Mariano Eduardo de Rivero y Ustáriz (22 October 1798 – 6 November 1857) was a Peruvian scientist, geologist, mineralogist, chemist, archaeologist, politician, and diplomat. He published on the discovery of Humboldtine (an iron oxalate), which demonstrated the existence of organic minerals; on deposits of copper and sodium nitrate (saltpeter) near Tarapacá in the Atacama Desert; and on the industrial potential of guano and coal in Peru. He is considered a pioneer of mining education in South America and one of the most notable Peruvian scientists of the 19th century.
Early life and education Rivero was born in Arequipa, Peru, to Antonio Salvador de Rivero y Araníbar, a captain in the Spanish Royal Army in the Viceroyalty of Peru, and María Brígida de Ustáriz y Zúñiga. Rivero was raised in a liberal Creole family during the colonial period and received his early education at the Seminary of San Jerónimo in Arequipa. His family sent him to Europe, and at the age of twelve, in 1810, he began his schooling in England. He was enrolled at a Catholic college at Highgate, outside London, whose head, Dowling, was a mathematician. There he studied mathematics, physics, Latin, French, and German. He moved to Paris in 1817 and enrolled at the École Royale des Mines (now Mines ParisTech), where he studied mineralogy and chemistry. His teachers there included Alexandre Brongniart, Pierre Berthier, and Darcet. In Paris, he met Alexander von Humboldt, who gave him letters of recommendation that opened several European academic circles to him. Rivero completed his mineralogical training at the Freiberg School of Mines in Saxony, and visited the Harz and other mining districts. During his European travels, he visited mines in England, France, and Spain.
Scientific career
Early discoveries Rivero discovered a new mineral originating in Bohemia (now the Czech Republic), which he named Humboldtine (an iron oxalate) in honor of his mentor and friend, Alexander von Humboldt. He published his first scientific works on the subject, among others, in France in 1821. He also identified a meerschaum (sepiolite) at Vallecas, which Alexandre Brongniart took up in a memoir of his own. A paper on amalgamation practice in the Americas, which he had read before the Société Philomathique, appeared in print in 1822.
Gran Colombia scientific mission Rivero returned to the Americas at Humboldt's urging. Bolívar had given Francisco Antonio Zea, Gran Colombia's minister in Paris, the task of hiring scientists who could survey the young republic's natural resources and set up a museum of natural history and a mining school. Zea approached Alexander von Humboldt, who put him in contact with Rivero. On Humboldt's recommendation, Zea hired Rivero in May 1822 to establish and direct a mining school in Bogotá, alongside a group of young European scientists. Bolívar promoted the project to strengthen the new nation's economy through natural science and mining technology. To prepare for the mission, Rivero acquired laboratory equipment and commissioned the construction of precision instruments. Rivero returned to South America in November 1822, arriving at La Guaira, Venezuela, with the French chemist Jean Baptiste Boussingault. In Venezuela, they studied the thermal springs of Mariara and Onoto, the exploitation of mineral salts at Urao Lake, and the secretion of the cow tree, which is drinkable and milk-like. Rivero also made barometric observations during this period. Rivero and Boussingault arrived in Bogotá in 1823 to find Bolívar away on campaign; Vice President Francisco de Paula Santander, then heading the government, put into force the law of 29 July 1823, which confirmed the mission's contracts and ordered the creation of a mining school and a natural history museum for the capital. In November 1823, Rivero inaugurated a museum of natural history and a mining school in Bogotá, serving as its first director. He and his team made expeditions into the eastern plains of Colombia. His report on these expeditions, Itinerario de los Llanos de San Martín y del río Meta, was later published in his Colección de memorias científicas... in 1857. After three years in Colombia, during which he maintained constant correspondence with his European colleagues, Rivero left the country for lack of economic and political support. Bolívar then recommended him to the Peruvian government for similar projects.
Return to Peru Simón Bolívar, who served as president of Gran Colombia (1819–1830) and president of Peru (1824–1827), arranged Rivero's return to his home country. Rivero left Bogotá and arrived in Lima at the end of 1825. In March 1826, the Peruvian government appointed him general director of mining, agriculture, public instruction, and museums. In 1827–1828, as director of mining, he drew up a full plan and internal by-laws for a school of mines in Lima, secured the former Casa de la Inquisición as its seat, and assembled its laboratory and teaching collection, but the government, strained by economic and political crises, never issued the founding decree. He did found the first National Museum of Natural History, Antiquities and History of Peru (today the Museo Nacional de Arqueología, Antropología e Historia del Perú). Rivero continued his scientific studies, traveled throughout Peru, and, with Nicolás Fernández de Piérola, founded a journal of the natural sciences, Memorial de Ciencias Naturales y de Industria Nacional y Extranjera, which was published between 1827 and 1829. In it, he wrote numerous articles and papers on topics such as the amalgamation of silver, the exploitation of guano, the analysis of mineral water from the thermal springs of Yura and other locations in Arequipa, reports on mining regions, and descriptions of gold, silver, and ceramic idols. In 1829, General Antonio Gutiérrez de la Fuente revolted against the government and became president of Peru. Amid an economic crisis, he eliminated the position of director of mining. These circumstances and the political instability led Rivero to leave Peru and emigrate to Chile, where he continued his studies in meteorology, mineralogy, and geology.
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