Raimondi- the Man of Peru

April 8, 2019 SouthAmerica

Antonio Raimondi (1824-1890) is Peru’s foremost geographer who was known for his extensive travels through the country documenting many aspects of the region from an Old World naturalist perspective. His works included geography and culture of the founding of Peru’s towns and territories, documenting the variety of plant species, mineralogical and petrological descriptions and collections, studies on Peruvian guano for the fertilizer industry, wet chemistry of thermal waters, survey work, and also included elevation surveys using the first barometer brought into Peru. He covered almost the entire country on horseback and on foot, taking remarkably detailed notes describing his journeys.

Antonio Raimondi was born in Milan, Italy in 1824. We have not discovered anything about his education in Italy. He was part of a revolutionary movement in 1848 and 1849 to end occupation of Milan by the Austrians. These attempts failed, and not long afterwards he decided to travel to Peru, arriving there in July of 1850 at an age of 26. Six years later in 1856 he was part of the organizing professors creating the University of San Marcos in Lima. Subsequently, he established the campus’s chemistry department in 1860. Think about this, how many 32-year old people today could help form a new university and then teach as a professor without an institutional piece of paper as endorsement?

Raimondi is known for his systematic note taking and extensive travels in the country. We are talking about working in extreme topography of the Andes, hyper-arid deserts, unexplored jungles, and mountain highlands with communities not living much beyond the Stone age. He published many topical volumes, detailed below, but most of these large studies were rather under-illustrated. Finding original copies of these publications is difficult and expensive.

One of his first publications was about the important economy and nature of Peru’s guano mining for fertilizers. His book “Informes sobre la existencia de guano en las islas de Chincha presentados por la Comisión nombrada por el gobierno peruano, con los planos levantados por la misma Comisión” was a government commissioned task resulting in a series of papers. Later in 1873 he published “La manipulación del guano” and in 1874 “Guano y salitre. Observaciones a la memoria del Sr. d. Daniel Desmaison.” These studies are far shorter than his other works, and represent the economy of the day and interaction of the new university with the government.

Raimondi’s early studies of “Elementos de botánica aplicada a la medicina y a la industria en los cuales se trata especialmente de las plantas del Perú” published in 1857 and “Apuntes sobre la provincia litoral de Loreto” published in 1862 is more about flora and fauna of the Amazon. It illustrates is early interest in botany. Similarly, Raimondi amassed a large collection of taxidermy birds, and other animals, during his studies, which were once on display in Lima.

Raimondi top effort and publication is a massive five volume set called “El Peru.” Volume 1 or the first volume was published in Lima in 1874. It covers name origins, descriptions of major geographic features, such as the two cordilleras of Peru. Volume 2 “El Perú. Historia de la Geografía del Perú” was published in 1876. This volume goes through detailed accounts of the founding of the numerous Peruvian towns. It includes an 1875 map of the country that probably is the most detailed and accurate for the time. Our personal collection has both of these original stand-alone books that are nicely bound in leather. Our copy of volume 2 has the cover page signed by Antonio Raimondi himself. Volume 3 “El Perú. Historia de la Geografía del Perú” was published in 1880; it includes supporting descriptions that were used in compiling the country map, giving locations and distances with particular interests on canyons and river exploration in the Amazon basin. All three volumes were released together in another press run during 1879-1880. The 1878 compilation called “Minerales del Perú o catálogo razonado de una colección que representa los principales tipos minerales de la República, con muestras de guano y restos de aves que lo han producido” in many ways comprises volume 4 of El Peru, and “Apéndice al catálogo razonado de los minerales del Perú “ as volume 5.

The El Peru volumes takes the time to document main features of the known archaeological ruins. His work at the Chavin de Huantar led to proposing the ruins pre-dated the Inca culture. The most magnificent carved stone artifact from the temple is name in his honor as the “Estela de Raimondi.” Likewise, Peru’s unique large high-altitude broadsword leafed plant is named after him, the “Puya de Raimondi.”

Raimondi’s other prime areas of study were the important mining camps of the day. His 1873 title “El departamento de Ancash y sus riquezas minerales” was a massive work, but it does not contain a single illustration. His 1883 work “Minas de oro de Carabaya” begins more focused studies on specific mining camps and gold. In 1885 he published “Memoria sobre el Cerro de Pasco y la montaña de Chanchamayo,” and lastly in 1887 “Minas de oro del Perú.” While Raimondi’s collection work was extensive, and detail oriented, his geological understanding and descriptions of the Andes were rudimentary, somewhat behind the state of the science of his time. At no point did he work making geological maps and he did not consider such topics as the forces that made the Andes.

Raimondi’s field notes were published posthumous in 1929 under “El Perú. Itinerarios de viajes,” Banco Italiano de Lima (Imp. Torres Aguirre),” and also in 1942 with “Notas de Viaje para su obra “El Perú.”

Other works reflect his professional career with the chemistry department. He published in 1864 a study called “Análisis de las aguas termales de Yura, aguas minerales de Jesús y aguas potables de Arequipa.” Additional studies on hot spring chemistry are found in his 1882 “Aguas minerales del Perú,” and the 1884 “Aguas potables del Perú.” Using what was then rather bulky and primitive equipment, his temperature measurements on numerous hot springs are not far off from the actual recorded values we find today at these springs.

In 1869 Raimondi completed most of his field work and married a Peruvian woman named Adela Loli Castañeda. The couple had one son and two daughters. He never returned to Italy, and passed away at age 66 in 1890 while staying at a house in the town of San Pedro de Lloc, La Libertad, northern Peru. A mausoleum in Lima at the Presbítero Maestro de Lima cemetery holds his remains.

If Raimondi were alive today and traveled to Peru he would likely become a travel blogger. The need of the day back in 1856 for first order observations on the nation are mostly completed today. Those adventurers and scientists coming to Peru today find endeavors that are more as specialist rather than general naturalists. A large part of his success as a geographer was self education and then arriving in a region that was essentially unknown to scientific studies. Anywhere he traveled he was faced by the novelties of science. This is in part of why his detailed field notes remain of interest, because not all of his observations were systematically interpreted and presented in his compilation publications. And while all of his publications were insular being made right in Lima his reputation as a geographer was broad, including being made an honorary member of the Royal Geographical Society of London. Raimondi’s widespread fame also comes with the times; it was certainly easier to stand out a hundred and fifty years ago than today because there was no competition. Today’s paper-degree university factories have pumped out so many specialists examining ever decreasing scale topics resulting in the appearance of there being no great scientists. Where is the Alexander von Humboldt or the Raimondi of today? Rising to such accomplished social status now is essentially impossible.

The Colegio Italiano in La Molina, Lima, has a small museum dedicated to Raimondi. The University Nacional of Ingenieria in Rimac preserves half of his mineral and rock collection in their museum. A more comprehensive permanent museum to his works is warranted. It would be an admirable goal to reunite his entire mineral collection. And of course, place on display modern photographs showing scenes that were depicted in his studies.

Anyone familiar with how rugged Peru is, the scale of mountains, steepness of the canyons, difficulty of the river fords, the hostile conditions of the deserts, and how difficult travel into the jungle is, then you would also have great respect for Raimondi actually getting to all those places before there were any paved roads. Horseback trips, hiking, camping, staying in flee invested adobe huts, and dealing with limited variety in the board of fare, all primitive conditions by today’s standards, and yet his ventures were making the state of the art advancement of the sciences. I doubt the travels people are making today in South America will look as difficult a hundred years in the future as compared to us looking back a hundred years in time. And for those who really research many different subjects in Peru, doing complete reporting of previous studies, more than once you will find yourself pouring through the pages of Raimondi’s publications to see if he went there, at least you better be doing that, because in some cases he may have named the very feature in question.