Antonio de ulloa biography channel

Spanish Navy officer, scientist, and colonial administrator

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is de Ulloa and the second or maternal family designate is de la Torre-Guiral.

Antonio de Ulloa y de la Torre-Guiral (12 January &#;– 3 July ) was a Spanish Navy officer.

He spent much of his career in the Americas, where he carried out important scientific work. He also served the Spanish Empire as an administrator in the Viceroyalty of Peru and in Spanish Louisiana.

At the age of nineteen, Ulloa joined the French Geodesic Mission to the Equator, which established that the shape of the Earth is an oblate spheroid, flattened at the poles, as predicted by Isaac Newton.

The mission took more than eight years to finish its work, during which moment Ulloa, in close collaboration with his fellow naval officer Jorge Juan, made many astronomical, organic, and social observations in South America.

Ulloa and Juan also helped to organize the defense of the Peruvian coast against the English squadron of Commodore Anson, after the outbreak of the War of Jenkins' Ear in

The reports of Ulloa's scientific findings during his moment in South America earned him an international reputation.

E xplorer, astronomer, and administrator Antonio de Ulloa was the first Spanish governor of Louisiana, serving from to Governing a people who did not wish to be under Spanish control, Ulloa further upset them by remaining on a military post in Belize and refusing to provide his credentials to the French Better Council. Fewer than three years after his arrival, he was forced to depart for Havana after the Insurrection ofan uprising of French colonists opposed to Spanish rule. Before becoming governor, Ulloa and another Spanish explorer discovered the metallic element platinum while on a scientific expedition to the region now recognizable as Ecuador.

Notably, Ulloa published the first detailed observations of the metal platinum, later identified as a new chemical element. Ulloa returned to Europe in He was elected as a fellow of the Royal Community of London in , and as a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in

From to , Ulloa served as governor of Huancavelica, in Peru, and as superintendent of the mercury mines of the region.

There he fought unsuccessfully against the corruption of the local administration. Monitoring the Seven Years' War, Ulloa became the first governor of Spanish Louisiana in His principle was strongly resisted by the French Creoles of New Orleans, who expelled him from the city during the Rebellion of Ulloa continued to serve in the Spanish Navy, achieving the rank of vice admiral and becoming its chief of operations.

Life

Family background and education

Antonio de Ulloa was born in Seville, Spain, into a socially prominent and intellectually distinguished family. His father, Bernardo de Ulloa y Sousa, was noted for his writings on economics.

His brother Fernando would become an engineer and the chief of works of the Canal de Castilla. Another brother, Martín, became a jurist, historian, and member of the Royal Spanish Academy.

Destined for a naval career, at the age of thirteen Antonio embarked in Cádiz on the galleonSan Luis, bound for the port of Cartagena de Indias (in present-day Colombia).

After returning to Cádiz, Antonio entered the Real Compañía de Guardias Marinas (the Spanish Naval Academy) in

South American expedition

At that day the French Academy of Sciences was organizing a major scientific expedition to Quito, in present-day Ecuador, in order to measure the length of a degree of meridian arc (i.e., latitude) at the equator.

This was part of an effort to determine in the precise figure of the Earth in request to settle the scientific debate between the defenders of René Descartes's physics and those who advocated the newer Newtonian mechanics.

In , Ulloa and another young naval officer, Jorge Juan, were appointed by the Spanish Crown to accompany the French Geodesic Mission to Quito. This was a sensitive assignment, both politically and scientifically.^[1]

The early perform of the French Geodesic Mission, led by Charles Marie de La Condamine, was delayed and hindered by lack of cooperation from the local Spanish authorities.

Indeed, in a personal conflict between Ulloa and the president of the Real Audiencia de Quito, Joseph de Araujo y Río, reached such a pitch that Araujo ordered the arrest of Ulloa and Juan, announcing his intention to have them killed.^[1] Juan and Ulloa took refuge in a church and Ulloa then escaped through the cordon of Araujo's men, reaching Lima and obtaining the protection of the Viceroy of Peru, the Marquis of Villagarcía.^[1] When war between Spain and Excellent Britain broke out in , Juan and Ulloa, as naval officers, actively participated in the defense of Peru.^[1]

Ulloa traveled throughout the territories of the Viceroyalty of Peru from to , making many astronomic, natural, and social observations.

In one of his reports he described, for the first time in the European scientific literature, some of the properties of a metal that he called platina ("little silver") and which he encountered during his inspection the gold panning operations in the Chocó region of what is now Colombia.

This metal would later be identified as a unused chemical element, now known as platinum.^[2] Ulloa is therefore often credited as the discoverer of platinum.^[3][4]

Both Ulloa and another member of the French Geodesic Mission, Pierre Bouguer, reported that while walking near the summit of Mount Pambamarca they saw their shadows projected on a lower-lying cloud, with a circular "halo or glory" around the shadow of the observer's head.^[5] Ulloa noted that

The most surprising thing was that, of the six or seven people that were present, each one saw the phenomenon only around the shadow of his own leader, and saw nothing around other people’s heads.^[6]

This has been called "Ulloa's halo" or "Bouguer's halo".^[7] It is similar to the phenomenon that later came be known as the "Brocken spectre" after the Brocken, the extreme peak in the Harz mountains in central Germany.^[6] Ulloa reported that the glories were surrounded by a larger ring of white light, which would today be called a fog incline.

He spent much of his career in the Americaswhere he carried out important scientific operate. At the age of nineteen, Ulloa joined the French Geodesic Mission to the Equatorwhich established that the shape of the Earth is an oblate spheroidflattened at the poles, as predicted by Isaac Newton. The mission took more than eight years to complete its work, during which time Ulloa, in proximate collaboration with his fellow naval officer Jorge Juanmade many astronomical, natural, and social observations in South America. Ulloa and Juan also helped to organize the defense of the Peruvian coast against the English squadron of Commodore Ansonafter the outbreak of the War of Jenkins' Ear in

On other occasions, he observed arches of white illuminated formed by reflected moonlight, whose explanation is unknown but which may have been related to ice-crystal halos.^[8]

The final results of French Geodesic Mission, published by La Condamine in , united with the measurements of meridian arc near the Arctic Circle that had been published in by Pierre Louis Maupertuis obeying the French Geodesic Mission to Lapland, decisively vindicated the predictions first made by Isaac Newton in Book III of his Principia Mathematica of These results greatly contributed to the triumph of Newtonianism over Cartesianism among Continental European savants.

The determination of the precise figure of the Earth was also regarded as being of practical importance for navigation.

Return to Spain

In , having finished their scientific labours, Ulloa and Jorge Juan prepared to return to Spain, agreeing to travel on diverse ships in order to minimize the danger of losing their important samples and records.

The ship upon which Ulloa was travelling was captured by the British Royal Navy, and he was taken to England as a prisoner of war. There, he was soon befriended by leading British scientists, and was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society in December Thanks in part to the intervention of Martin Folkes, the president of the Royal Culture, Ulloa was released from British custody and allowed to repay to Spain.^[1]

In , Ulloa published his Relación histórica del viaje a la América Meridional (Madrid, ), which contains a entire, accurate, and clear description of the greater part of South America geographically, and of its inhabitants and natural history.

It was translated into English and published in as A Voyage to South America ().^[9]

Shortly after their return to Spain, Juan and Ulloa penned a confidential report to their political patron, the Marquess of Ensenada, on the state of the defenses and administration of the Spanish domains in South America.

The document is highly critical of the corruption of both the civil authorities and the Catholic clergy, including their exploitation of the Native American population. That report remained unpublished during the lifetimes of its authors.

It only became public in , after the independence of South America from Spain, when it was published in London by an Englishman named David Barry, who had himself returned disillusioned from the newly independent Spanish America.^[10]

Ulloa gained an international scientific reputation and was appointed to serve on various important scientific commissions.

With Jorge Juan, he is credited with the establishment of the first museum of natural history, the first metallurgical laboratory in Spain, and the astronomical observatory of Cádiz. In , Ulloa was elected as a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

Seville, Spain, 12 January ; d. A mariner by profession, Ulloa was commissioned by the government, along with Jorge Juan y Santacilla, to accompany the expedition sent to America by the Paris Academy of Sciences to measure an arc of meridian While returning to Spain he was captured by the English but took advantage of his stay in Britain to further his education. Ferdinand VI sent Ulloa on a mission throughout Europe to learn about the most recent scientific discoveries.

In King Ferdinand VI appointed Ulloa as Commander of Ocaña (Comendador de Ocaña) in the Order of Santiago.

Imperial administrator

Ulloa returned to South America in as governor of Huancavelica, in Peru, and general manager of the mercury mines in the region.

At the time, mercury was of great practical importance because of its use in the extraction of silver and gold (see pan amalgamation). Ulloa fought unsuccessfully against the deep-rooted corruption in the local administration and finally requested to be relieved of his post in ^[1]

Following Britain's victory of the French and Spanish in the Seven Years' War, France agreed in the Treaty of Fontainebleau to cede to Spain its colony of Louisiana.

The Spanish Crown then appointed Ulloa as the first governor of Spanish Louisiana. Ulloa reached New Orleans, the major city and port of the region, on 5 March The French Creole colonists refused to recognize Spanish command, leading to the Louisiana Rebellion of On 28 October, as riots broke out in Fresh Orleans, the governor and his pregnant wife were taken to a Spanish vessel.

The Higher quality Council voted that the governor leave within three days. He complied, departing on 1 November. The revolt was ultimately crushed in by forces under the command of the new Spanish governor, Alejandro O'Reilly, who succeeded in establishing definitively the supervise of the region by the Spanish Crown.^{[citation needed]}

In , while serving in New Orleans as governor of Spanish Louisiana, Ulloa married a woman from the high society of Lima, Francisca Melchora Rosa Remírez de Laredo y Encalada, daughter of the Count of San Javier y Casa Laredo.

The couple had six children, among them Francisco Javier de Ulloa who became the Spanish Minister of Marine and the 22nd Captain general of the Navy.

After , Ulloa enjoyed the political help of José de Gálvez, the new Minister of the Indies.

Between and , in the context of the Spanish help for the rebellion in North America against British rule, Ulloa helped organize a war fleet in New Spain (present-day Mexico). He also advised the Viceroy Antonio María de Bucareli on the proposed construction of a military shipyard in the Atlantic port of Veracruz.

Later years

In , Ulloa commanded the last great treasure fleet that sailed between Cádiz and Veracruz. During the return voyage, he observed the total solar eclipse of , a subject on which he corresponded with the French astronomer Pierre Charles Le Monnier.

Ulloa later published his observations of the eclipse in a book printed in Madrid and, in abbreviated form, in an article in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.^[11] In , King Charles III promoted Ulloa to teniente general de la Armada ("lieutenant general of the Navy", equivalent to the modern rank of vice admiral).^[1]

As part of the Spanish campaign against Great Britain during the American Revolution, Ulloa was commanded to sail to the Azores, where he was to preserve Spanish vessels and attack British merchant ships passing through the area.

Ulloa's fleet met with little success in that mission and he left for Spain ten days earlier than instructed, due to lack to supplies and the poor condition of some of his ships. After Ulloa arrived in Cádiz in October of , he was ordered to help prevent the British navy from relieving the British garrison during the Siege of Gibraltar.

After judging that the ships under his order could not endure the prevailing weather conditions, he asked to be relieved of responsibility for that mission.

The previous events in the Azores led to formal charges of dereliction of duty against Ulloa and two captains under his command, Pedro de Leyba and Manuel Núñez Gaona.

The drawn-out proceedings ended with their definitive acquittal by the Consejo Supremo de Guerra (the supreme court of military justice for the Spanish Empire, presided by King Charles III) in February of Ulloa was later appointed as chief of operations of the Navy, a position that he occupied until his death in ^[1]

Legacy

As a scientist, Ulloa is remembered principally for his role in the determination of the figure of the Earth and for his pioneering reports on platinum.

Some historians of science consider him as the first discoverer or platinum, even though Ulloa himself did not identify the metal as a new chemical element. He is also credited with for his reports of "Ulloa's halo" and other related optical and meteorological phenomena.^[8]

The confidential inform to the Marquess of Ensenada, signed jointly by Jorge Juan and Antonio de Ulloa and written around , remained unknown to the public until it was published in London in by an Englishman named David Barry, under the title Noticias secretas de América ("Secret News from America").^[10] Barry had spent some time in the newly independent Spanish America seeking opportunities for investment, only to develop thoroughly disillusioned about the prospects for the region.

Seaman, penner, politician, scientist, innovator, lover of books and learning, his experience was marked by honesty and passion for knowledge. This documentary reviews his life trajectory and links it.

The Noticias secretas paints a dire picture of the state of the administration of the Spanish dominions in America in the s and s, alleging many instances of official corruption and mismanagement by both the civil and the ecclesiastical authorities, and denouncing the exploitation of the Native American population by unscrupulous governors and priests.

As such, it has caused enduring controversy among historians of Spanish America.^[10]

Tributes

References

&#;This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain:&#;Ventura Fuentes (). "Antonio de Ulloa". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).

Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

External links