Jose Celestino Mutis

José Celestino Bruno Mutis y Bosio (Cádiz, Spain, April 6, 1732 - Santafé de Bogotá, Viceroyalty of New Granada, September 11, 1808) was a priest, botanist, geographer, Spanish mathematician, doctor and teacher at the Universidad del Rosario, in Santafé de Bogotá, the university where his remains currently rest. He is one of the main authors of the Spanish Universalist School of the 18th century.

Biography

Stage on the Peninsula

He studied medicine and surgery at the Royal College of Surgery of Cádiz and concluded his degree at the University of Seville. After finishing his studies he worked for four years at the Hospital de Cádiz. His early professional stages were developed under the mentorship of some of the most eminent scientists of the day. He went on to work as a substitute for the chair of Anatomy at the General Hospital of Madrid and perfected his botanical knowledge in the Jardín del Soto de Migas Calientes.

American stage and Royal Botanical Expedition of the New Kingdom of Granada

Exhibitions of fauna and flora of the Spanish America in the Pavilion of the navigation of Seville.

In 1760 José Celestino Mutis traveled to New Granada as a doctor for viceroy Pedro Mesía de la Cerda; At the end of the mandate of his superior, he chose to remain in the viceroyalty as a scientific promoter: The flora, fauna, and gea of the American tropics had captivated him. Mutis proposed on two occasions (1763 and 1764) to the Crown of Spain a botanical expedition through the New Kingdom of Granada. The proposals did not find a response, so he dedicated himself to the priesthood, mining and attending to his chair at the Colegio del Rosario. Specifically, after living in different towns, he settled in Santafé. Later he dedicated himself to mining in Vetas, Santander, province of Pamplona.

Years later, after having retired to live in Mariquita, encouraged by the Viceroy-Archbishop Antonio Caballero y Góngora, he made a third proposal that was accepted by the enlightened King Carlos III, who had studied botany as well as other sciences, techniques and arts.

In the last Spanish banknotes of 2000 pesetas (in circulation between 1993 and 2002) the effigy of Mutis appeared.

The Royal Botanical Expedition of the New Kingdom of Granada began in 1783 under his direction and lasted for about 30 years. It focused on Santafé and its surroundings, the Pedro Palo lagoon, La Mesa, Guaduas, Honda and the surroundings of Mariquita. Several commissioners participated in the expedition who extended their geographical coverage. Among them stands out Francisco José de Caldas, who traveled the current lands of Ecuador for four years, returning to Santafé in 1808 carrying a very extensive herbarium. Another of the commissioners was Fray Diego García, who toured the Alto Valle del Magdalena, between La Palma and Timaná, reaching the Andaquíes area. His collection also included a wide collection of fauna and geology. In turn, Juan Eloy Valenzuela y Mantilla, who had been deputy director of the Expedition during its first year, was commissioned to Santander. He had to retire to Bucaramanga due to health problems, where he continued collecting.

This expedition turned out to be the most expensive for the Crown of Spain, and yet it was the one that produced the fewest scientific publications. However, it was decisive for the development of culture and research in Colombia. A drawing school was created there and numerous pen officers and herbalists were hired. The plates made in the expedition turned out to be of exceptional quality. Among the cartoonists, Salvador Rizo and Francisco Javier Matís stand out, who was described by Humboldt as the best botanical illustrator in the world. Years later, the Bogotá doctor and botanist José Jerónimo Triana made a decisive contribution to the determination of the species.

Contrary to what happened with the plates, part of the extensive and important Herbarium, transferred at the end of the Expedition to the Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid, has remained practically unpublished until relatively recent dates. The library that Mutis used to carry out the Botanical Expedition is kept in the National Library of Colombia. An example of this is the work Recueil des plantes des Indes, by the entomologist Maria Sibylla Merian. The catalog of this valuable fund was published in the Senderos magazine of this entity.

Contributions

He was the founder of the study of scientific medicine, botany and astronomy in Colombia. In 1801, Mutis proposed to the authorities the creation of a chemical laboratory with its respective chair and in 1804 he proposed a definitive Medicine Study Plan, giving importance to practical teaching in the hospital after training in basic sciences and sciences. medical One of his contributions were:

Your contributions to health in New Granada

During the great smallpox epidemic of 1782, Mutis, despite the reluctance of the rulers, implemented numerous sanitation measures in Santa Fe de Bogotá, along with a vaccination campaign. At the request of an old priest from Sopó, he investigated the use of weakened strains of the disease inoculated into healthy people and, given the disbelief of the people, he carried out the experiment on himself, introducing a purulent sample through a small cut. of a sick He also inoculated in this way some of his students and 36 sick children from the San Juan de Dios orphanage. After a few days neither he nor his disciples had gotten sick and the children began to appreciate the improvement. This test convinced about a thousand people, who agreed to try the method and survived because of it.

The success of the campaign also convinced Viceroy Caballero y Góngora, who established decrees to systematize vaccinations in epidemic situations.

The collection of vocabularies, today in the Royal Library

Mutisia clematis. Painted by Salvador Rizo during the Royal Botanic Expedition of the New Kingdom of Granada José Celestino Mutis1783-1808. Lie on paper.

Thanks to Empress Catherine the Great of Russia, Mutis compiled indigenous vocabularies and grammars. The tsarina wanted a large dictionary of all the known languages, which she came to make, and she turned to Carlos III to provide her with grammars and vocabularies of the American languages. The sovereign agreed and royal orders were issued to the viceroys and governors of the Indies so that they could forward to the court those who could come close.

In New Granada, specifically in Bogotá, the mission was entrusted to Father Mutis, assisted by his faithful Diego de Ugalde, canon, and Anselmo Álvarez, priest. The cosmographer of the Indies Juan Bautista Muñoz left a list of the papers of Indian languages that he collected (RAH, ms. 9/4855, ff. 77-79v). Thanks to them, the Chibcha, Mosca and Saliba grammars and the Achagua language dictionary were compiled. After this work, Carlos III, aware of its value, did not send them to Russia and ordered their entry into his Chamber Library by Royal Order of November 13, 1787.

In 1928 its catalog was published under the title of Lenguas de América, since in the collection there are more than those mentioned, written by other people and that Mutis gathered, considering that a vocabulary should consist of at least one hundred words.

There are nineteen volumes with vocabularies and grammars, concise in length and mainly eighth and twelfth in size, which entered the Royal Library in February 1789. They go from manuscript II/2910 to II/2929 and some are copies, in fact, the first volume is, and the copy is dated after the indicated Royal Order, it is the Art and Vocabulary of the Achagua Language, which belongs to the Jesuits Alonso de Neira and Juan Ribero, being translated in 1762. Actually it was formed much earlier, since Neira died in 1703 and Ribero in 1736. The second and third volumes form the Vocabulario andaqui-español, the fourth is a Vocabulary for the Araucanian language, dated 1765, the fifth is a Vocabulary from Spanish to the Caribbean, dated 1774 and by the Franciscan Martín de Taradell, the sixth and seventh is another vocabulary in the Ceona language, which was copied as recorded in July 1788, the eighth and ninth are formed with voices of the Guama language, copied in Bogotá in December 178 8, the ninth volume is a Cathesismo in Guarani and Spanish, and it is dated in Corrientes in October 1789; the tenth is a vocabulary in Guarauno and includes an art of confessing Guaraunos, the eleventh is a Brief compendium of pariagoto language, the twelfth is a grammar, confessional and vocabulary in mosca language, the next two are another vocabulary in mosca, from 1612 but in a copy from the 18th century, the II/2925 and 2926 are Castilian voices in the Motilona language, made by the Capuchin Francisco Javier de Alfaro, also copied in July 1788. The following is a copy taken in December of that year by Fray Jerónimo José de Lucena of three vocabularies in the Ottoman language, Taparita and Yarura. The last two of the collection, finally, manuscripts II/2928-29 are a catechism of the language of the province of Páez, in the language of the bat nation or huaque, taken out in July 1788. Some are original but the Most of them are copies of other originals, many of which have been lost or there are no other written testimonies, so they acquire the relevance of originals. Together, they are a true treasure within the Americanist funds of the Royal Library and an example of Hispanic interest in preserving for the future one of the capital elements of indigenous cultures, their language.

Other aspects of his work

• He studied the flora of his surroundings and made a wonderful collection of drawings of the Colombian flora. Among his most remarkable disciples are his own nephew, Sinforoso Mutis Consuegra, the naturalist scientist Francisco José Caldas and the botanist Francisco Antonio Zea, who became director of the Royal Botanic Garden of Madrid.

• He contributed to other sciences, including also important inputs to industrial processes, such as silver mining and rum distillation.

• The Arcano of the Machine: Speech containing medical part of the four species of official quinas, their eminent virtues and their legitimate preparation. Work posthumous. Ibarra, S.M. Chamber Printer, Madrid. 1828

• Flora of the Royal Botanic Expedition of the New Kingdom of Granada: 1783-1816: published under the auspices of the Governments of Spain and Colombia and thanks to the collaboration of the Instituto de Cooperación Iberoamericana, Instituto Colombiano de Cultura Hispánica, Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid, CSIC, and Instituto de Ciencias Naturales-Museo de Historia Natural de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia with the collaboration of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food; promoted and directed by José Celestino Mutis. 49 vol.

Honors

• 1784: elected foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
• His image appeared in Colombia's 200-weight ticket issued between 1983 and 1992. The reverse of the ticket showed the image of José Celestino Mutis and the Astronomical Observatory with a water mark on the right. On the back he had the image of the cloister of the Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario, today Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá.
• His image was set in the old 2000 Spanish pesetas, the first ticket of the Spanish series in America that was put in circulation. On the back of the ticket the drawing of Mutisia performed by their assistants and drawers.

Eponyms

• The municipal head of the municipality of Bahía Solano in Colombia is named "Ciudad Mutis".

Street dedicated to José Celestino Mutis in Cadiz, Spain.

Figure of Mutis in the botanical garden of Bogotá that bears its name.

• José Celestino Mutis, Bahía Solano, Department of Chocó, Colombia
• José Celestino Mutis Airport, San Sebastián de Mariquita, Tolima, Colombia
• Avenida José Celestino Mutis, Bogotá, Colombia
• José Celestino Mutis Municipal Library, Cadiz, Spain
• Calle de José Celestino Mutis, Cádiz (Spain)
• Calle Celestino Mutis, Alcalá de Henares (Spain)
• Calle Celestino Mutis, Santa Fe, Granada (Spain)
• Calle Botánico Mutis, Barrio de Moscardó, Madrid (Spain)
• Colegio Inem José Celestino Mutis, Popayán, Cauca, Colombia
• Colegio Mayor José Celestino Mutis, Bucaramanga (Colombia)
• Barrio Mutis, Bucaramanga (Colombia)
• Colegio Mayor José Celestino Mutis, Bogotá, (Colombia)
• Colegio José Celestino Mutis Ocaña, Norte de Santander, (Colombia)
• Colegio Público de Educación Primaria José Celestino Mutis, Cádiz (Spain)
• Educational institution José Celestino Mutis, Medellín (Colombia)
• Instituto de Educación Secundaria Celestino Mutis, Madrid (Spain)
• Instituto Experimental del Atlántico José Celestino Mutis (Barranquilla, Colombia).
• Instituto Nacional de Educación Media Diversificado (INEM) José Celestino Mutis (Armenia, Colombia)
• Departmental education institution José Celestino Mutis, La Mesa, Cundinamarca (Colombia)
• José Celestino Mutis, Bogotá, Colombia
• José Celestino Mutis Botanic Park, Palos de la Frontera (Spain)
• José Celestino Mutis Park, Cadiz, Spain
• José Celestino Mutis Park, Seville, Spain
• Plaza de Armas José Celestino Mutis, San Sebastián de Mariquita,Tolima (Colombia)
• National Natural Reserve, Municipal Forest, José Celestino Mutis, San Sebastián de Mariquita, Tolima (Colombia)

Dedicated taxa

Numerous taxa have been dedicated to José Celestino Mutis, mainly plant species, some examples:

• Acalypha (Linostachys) mutisii, a kind of euphobia of Colombia.
• Aegiphila mutisi, a species of Verbenaceae.
• Aetanthus mutisii, a kind of bush of the Loranthaceae family.
• Duranta mutisii, thorn cross, another Verbenaceae.
• Mutisia, a genre introduced by the son of Linneo in his honor, broadening the meaning given to him by the students of Mutis.
• Pheidole mutisi, a kind of ant.