Antonio de Ulloa

Bust of Antonio de Ulloa

Antonio de Ulloa y Torre-Guiral (born January 12, 1716 in Seville , Spain , † July 5, 1795 on the Isla de León near Cádiz ) was a Spanish scholar and admiral .

Live and act

De Ulloa studied mathematics at the Colégio Mayor de Santo Tomás. At the age of 14 he made his first sea voyage from Cadiz to Porto Bello and Havana in Cuba, but the voyage soon came to an end due to storm damage.

He took part in the great French expedition to measure the length of a degree of latitude ( see main article Measurement of degrees and meridional arc ) under the equator (realized 1735–1741) in the then Viceroyalty of New Granada . The expedition on behalf of King Louis XV. was under the leadership of Louis Godin . Other participants were La Condamine and Pierre Bouguer and later the Spanish officer Jorge Juan . After the astronomical observations in Quito , he sailed back on a French ship that was seized by the English near Louisburg (Nova Scotia) . De Ulloa was very polite treated by the English and taken to London, where he many members of the Royal Society , for their fellow met he was elected in 1746. He also got his notes back from the Admiralty with the words that they were not at war with art and science and their professors. In 1746 he returned to Spain and prepared the publication of his travelogue in Madrid. He undertook an extensive study trip to Europe and then reorganized medical training in Spain, founded textile manufacturers and developed mercury mining in Almadén . From 1758 he supervised the mercury mines in Huancavelica in Peru .

In 1762 the French surrendered Louisiana to Spain in the Secret Treaty of Fontainebleau and from 1766 to 1768 de Ulloa was the first Spanish governor of Spanish Louisiana in New Orleans . There he married his wife from Peru. Since he did this without much ceremony on a ship in the Mississippi estuary, this contributed to the criticism of him (as well as his sober character, which is not very representative, and longer absences and neglect of his official duties in favor of science), so that he after two Years ago.

One of the earliest descriptions of platinum metal comes from him. He demonstrated the blood circulation in fish in Spain with a microscope he had brought from England and he brought knowledge of electricity and magnetism as well as advances in printing technology to Spain.

Honors

According to De Ulloa, the plant genus Ulloa is Pers. named. The genus Juanulloa Ruiz & Pav. Honors Jorge Juan and Antonio de Ulloa. Both genera belong to the nightshade family (Solanaceae).

Works (selection)

Historical account of the voyage to South America , 1748
Noticias americanas: entretenimientos físico-históricos sobre la América meridional, y la septentrional oriental: comparación general de los territorios, climas y producciones en las tres especies vegetal, animal y mineral , Madrid 1772
Observación en el mar de un eclipse de sol , 1778
"Observation de l'Eclipse de Soleil totale avec Retention & annulaire faite le 24 juin 1778 sur le vaisseau l'Espagne, commandant l'Escadre de la Flotte de la Nouvelle Espagne, en faisant le trajet des Iles Terceres vers le Cap St. Vincent “, In: Histoire de l'Académie Royale des Sciences et des Belles-Lettres [Berlin] 1778, pp. 30-35.
Conversaciones de Ulloa con sus tres hijos en servicio de la Marina , 1795.

Together with Jorge Juan:

Relación histórica del viaje hecho de orden de su Majestad a la América Meridional , Madrid 1748.
Noticias Secretas de América, sobre el estado naval, militar y político del Perú y provincia de Quito , Madrid 1748. Confidential manuscript published under this title in London in 1826.

Web links

Commons : Antonio de Ulloa - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Retratos de Españoles ilustres: Antonio de Ulloa (Retrato) (span.)
A biography and two texts by Ulloa in German and French translation
Entry for Ulloa, Antonio de (1716-1795) in the Archives of the Royal Society , London

Individual evidence

^ François Angelier: Dictionnaire des Voyageurs et Explorateurs occidentaux du XIIIe au XXe siècle . Pygmalion (Éditions Flammarion), Paris 2011, ISBN 978-2-7564-0156-0 , p. 673 f .
^ Entry on Ulloa, Antonio de (1716 - 1795) in the archive of the Royal Society , London
^ Mary Elvira Weeks: Discovery of the Elements, published by Journal of Chemical Education, 6th edition 1956, pp. 409ff. With biography. The description appeared in his travelogue from 1748.
↑ Lotte Burkhardt: Directory of eponymous plant names - Extended Edition. Part I and II. Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin , Freie Universität Berlin , Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-946292-26-5 doi: 10.3372 / epolist2018 .

personal data
SURNAME	Ulloa, Antonio de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Ulloa y Torre-Guiral, Antonio de (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Spanish scholar and admiral
DATE OF BIRTH	January 12, 1716
PLACE OF BIRTH	Seville , Spain
DATE OF DEATH	July 5, 1795
Place of death	near Cádiz

[1] François Angelier: Dictionnaire des Voyageurs et Explorateurs occidentaux du XIIIe au XXe siècle . Pygmalion (Éditions Flammarion), Paris 2011, ISBN 978-2-7564-0156-0 , p. 673 f .

[2] Entry on Ulloa, Antonio de (1716 - 1795) in the archive of the Royal Society , London

[3] Mary Elvira Weeks: Discovery of the Elements, published by Journal of Chemical Education, 6th edition 1956, pp. 409ff. With biography. The description appeared in his travelogue from 1748.

[Burkhardt_2018-4] Lotte Burkhardt: Directory of eponymous plant names - Extended Edition. Part I and II. Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin , Freie Universität Berlin , Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-946292-26-5 doi: 10.3372 / epolist2018 .