Julius Popper (December 15, 1857 – June 5, 1893), known in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

as Julio Popper (), was a Romanian Jew and later

Argentinian Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

colonial

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

and

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

. He was known as a modern "

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...

" of

Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South America, South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main is ...

in southern

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, and was both a controversial and influential figure. Popper was one of the main perpetrators of the

genocide Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...

against the native

Selkʼnam people The Selkʼnam, also known as the Onawo or Ona people, are an Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous people in the Patagonian region of southern Argentina and Chile, including the Tierra del Fuego islands. They were one of the last nati ...

in the islands,According to Federico Echelaite's account in the documentary film ''Los onas, vida y muerte en Tierra del Fuego'' (by A. Montes, A. Chapman, and J. Prelorán). and the circumstances surrounding his own death remain a mystery.

Life

Popper was born in 1857 to a

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish family in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

Principality of Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ; : , : ) is a historical and geographical region of modern-day Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians. Wallachia was traditionally divided into two sections, Muntenia ...

, son of professor Neftali Popper, a successful antiques merchant, and his wife Peppi. He studied in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, gaining credentials as an engineer. After working in Europe for several years, he took a job working on the infrastructure for the telegraph in Chile. He arrived in Argentina in 1885, where he was attracted by the possibility of gold mining in Tierra del Fuego. In 1886 he received a permit from the Argentine Government to form an exploration company to mine for gold near

San Sebastián San Sebastián, officially known by the bilingual name Donostia / San Sebastián (, ), is a city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, from the France–Spain border ...

. On September 7, he led an 18-man expedition that included a chief engineer, a mineralogist, a journalist and a photographer. They found gold dust on the beach of El Páramo, in San Sebastián Bay. The expedition was rigorously and strictly enforced according to military standards with heavily armed men, with Popper in direct command of everything. During the expedition, Popper and his men were allegedly attacked by eighty Selkʼnam (Ona) armed with bows. The expeditionaries responded by firing their

Winchester rifle Winchester rifle is a comprehensive term describing a series of lever action repeating rifles manufactured by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. Developed from the 1860 Henry rifle, Winchester rifles were among the earliest repeaters. Th ...

s, killing all but two of the Selkʼnam. After the fight, Popper "posed his men in the attitude of troops repelling a charge, took a position himself astride one of the dead Indians, and then had the outfit photographed for subsequent use." Popper succeeded in unearthing large amounts of gold and his ''Compania de Lavaderos de Oro del Sud'' realized enormous capital gains on the

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

stock exchange A stock exchange, securities exchange, or bourse is an exchange where stockbrokers and traders can buy and sell securities, such as shares of stock, bonds and other financial instruments. Stock exchanges may also provide facilities for ...

. A mint built to manage the gold was adapted as a museum in 1973, ("Museum at the End of the Earth"), officially the (Territorial Museum) of Tierra del Fuego since 1979. In Patagonia, Popper maintained dominance with his private army. He issued his own coins and stamps to symbolize his power. Two varieties of coins were issued, the 1 gram coin inscribed with ''El Paramo'' ("a high and cold region"), and the 5 gram coin inscribed with ''Lavaderos de Oro del Sur'' ("Washers of Gold of the south"), referring to

gold panning Gold panning, or simply ''panning'', is a form of placer mining and traditional mining that extracts gold from a placer deposit using a pan. The process is one of the simplest ways to extract gold, and is popular with geology enthusiasts espec ...

from the river

sediment Sediment is a solid material that is transported to a new location where it is deposited. It occurs naturally and, through the processes of weathering and erosion, is broken down and subsequently sediment transport, transported by the action of ...

. When the Argentine peso lost its value in the market crash of 1890, his gold coins were regarded as currency. Around this time, he may have produced plans for the modern outline of the city of

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Ansel 1970 quotes: "He further maintains that Popper drew up some kind of "plan" for the city of Havana in 1884." "He" means Popper vigorously fought against his enemies; he punished gold diggers and thieves according to arbitrary law. The most controversial aspect of his life was his participation in the Selkʼnam genocide against the

native Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...

communities on

. Sheep farmers and gold miners ruthlessly killed them; the former because the Selkʼnam would hunt sheep in their former territories and the latter because of conflicts over mining areas. Together with other bounty hunters, who were paid to kill the Selkʼnam, Popper too sent his armed forces to manhunt them. Popper also prepared an expedition to enforce the Argentine claim to parts of

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

. In 1892, he submitted a proposal to the Argentine government to build a settlement in the

South Shetland Islands The South Shetland Islands are a group of List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands, Antarctic islands located in the Drake Passage with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the n ...

, accompanied by a map showing his plans for the region. Popper claimed the region was of strategic importance and that Argentina needed to take possession of it "as soon as possible". British diplomat George E. Welby took notice of this proposal and contacted Popper to assert that South Georgia, which had been marked as Argentine in his map, was a British possession. After Popper's sudden death in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

at the age of 35, his empire collapsed. The cause of his death has not been established. Contemporary American journalist John R. Spears says that he was poisoned by "men whom he had offended in the south." Popper's death was seen as suspicious due to his relatively young age and good health.

Photographic archive

In July 2022 The Wilhelm Filderman Center for the Study of the History of the Jews of Romania mounted in the Romanian capital, Bucharest, an exhibition of Popper's 1886 expedition into the interior of Tierra del Fuego. It consisted of a selection of the hundreds of photographs of the expedition that Popper himself sent to his family in Bucharest at the time and which collection had previously been conserved in the Romanian National Archives.

In fiction

* Patricio Manns features him as one of the main characters of his novel, ''El Corazón a Contraluz'' (1996). * Popper figures in the back-story to the 1956 short story "Tierra del Fuego" by Francisco Coloane. In 2000, this story was turned into a film of the same name. In the film, Popper (played by Jorge Perugorría) appears as an ethnic Romanian

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

man working for Queen Carmen Sylva. * The Concepción-based Chilean blues and rockabilly band Julius Popper are named after Popper.

Life

Photographic archive

In fiction

References

Further reading