Agostino Codazzi - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Giovanni Battista Agostino Codazzi (alternatively known in Latin America as Agustín Codazzi; 12 July 1793 - 7 February 1859) was an Italian soldier, scientist, geographer and cartographer. He made his main investigations and cartographic work in Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

and Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

, thereby creating for both countries a complete set of maps and statistics after the tumultuous post-independence years from Spanish Empire.

Biography

Codazzi was born in the Italian city of Lugo. Since young he appreciated the ideals of the French Revolution

French Revolution

The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

and, after his studies at the military academy "Scuola di Artiglieria" of Pavia

Pavia

Pavia , the ancient Ticinum, is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, northern Italy, 35 km south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It is the capital of the province of Pavia. It has a population of c. 71,000...

, actively served in the Napoleon Army.

With the defeat of Napoleon in 1815 Codazzi moved away from Italy and after some travels went to Venezuela

Venezuela

, where he offered his military knowledge to Simon Bolivar

Simón Bolívar

Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Yeiter, commonly known as Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan military and political leader...

.

Successively he received the task of mapping the area of the Maracaibo Lake and the borders between Venezuela, Colombia

Colombia

and Ecuador

Ecuador

Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...

. The Venezuelan government named him Colonel and ordered the creation of an Atlas of Venezuela, a task that gave him international fame (in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

Codazzi was awarded in 1842 the Legion of Honor by the King of France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, on behalf of the French Academy of Science).

Agustin Codazzi meanwhile took the Venezuelan citizenship from president José Antonio Páez

José Antonio Páez

José Antonio Páez Herrera was General in Chief of the army fighting Spain during the Venezuelan Wars of Independence, in addition to becoming the President of Venezuela once it was independent of the Gran Colombia...

and become Governor of Barinas

Barinas (state)

Barinas State is one of the 23 states into which Venezuela is divided. The state capital is Barinas. Current President Hugo Chávez was born in this state...

, a region of southwestern Venezuela. In those years his academic activity of geographer was continuously interrupted by his duties of military commander, suffocating many revolts.

Codazzi even promoted the creation in the 1840s of the Colonia Tovar

Colonia Tovar

Colonia Tovar is a city located in the Tovar Municipality of the state of Aragua in Venezuela, 60 km west of Caracas. The town was named after Martín Tovar y Ponte who donated the land over 150 years ago, and was founded by Agostino Codazzi...

, a small German settlement in the Venezuelan central mountains that still exist today and has become one of the main tourist attractions near Maracay

Maracay

Maracay is a city in north-central Venezuela, near the Caribbean coast, and is the capital and most important city of the state of Aragua. Most of it falls under the jurisdiction of the Girardot Municipality. The population as per the 2001 census was 750,000...

.

With the fall of Páez after a military insurrection, Codazzi was forced to escape to Cúcuta

Cúcuta

Cúcuta is a Colombian city, capital of Norte de Santander, in the northeast of the country. Due to its proximity to the Colombian-Venezuelan border, Cúcuta is an important commercial center. The city has the constitutional category of Special District. It is located at the most active...

(Colombia), where he continued his geographic and mapping activity with military duties for the Colombian government.

In 1852 Codazzi did a scientific and cartographic inspection of Panama

Panama

Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...

for the British government: in 1854 - even if with no official mention of Codazzi's work — the Panama Canal

Panama Canal

The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...

project was done following exactly his indications and route.

Codazzi died of malaria

Malaria

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...

in February 1859 at the small town of Espíritu Santo in the Colombian mountains, while he was mapping the area. The town where he died has been renamed since then Aldea Codazzi

Codazzi

Agustín Codazzi or Codazzi, is a city and municipality of the Department of Cesar. It was founded in 1784 by the Spanish Captain Salvador Felix de Arias with the name of El Pueblito del Espiritu Santo but later renamed after the Italian cartographer, Giovanni Battista Agostino Codazzi, who died in...

.

Venezuela honored the memory of Agustin Codazzi placing his remains inside the Panteón Nacional

Panteón Nacional

The Panthéon is a building in the northern edge of the old town of Caracas, Venezuela. It was originally built as a church, but is now used as a famous burial place...

of Caracas

Caracas

Caracas , officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela; natives or residents are known as Caraquenians in English . It is located in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range...

in 1942, where he is considered one the Heroes of Venezuela.

Colombia's national geographical society, a government agency, is named after Agustin Codazzi (Instituto Geográfico Agustin Codazzi).

Biography

External links

See also