Francisco José de Caldas
Overview
 
Francisco José de Caldas (4 October 1768 – 28 October 1816) was a Colombian lawyer, naturalist, and geographer who died a martyr
Martyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...

 by orders of Pablo Morillo
Pablo Morillo
Pablo Morillo y Morillo, Count of Cartagena and Marquess of La Puerta, aka El Pacificador was a Spanish general....

 during the Reconquista
Reconquista (Spanish America)
In colonial Spanish America, the Reconquista refers to the period following the defeat of Napoleon in 1814 during which royalist armies were able to gain the upper hand in the Spanish American wars of independence...

 for being a precursor of the Independence of New Granada
New Kingdom of Granada
The New Kingdom of Granada was the name given to a group of 16th century Spanish colonial provinces in northern South America governed by the president of the Audiencia of Bogotá, an area corresponding mainly to modern day Colombia and parts of Venezuela. Originally part of the Viceroyalty of...

 (modern day 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...

).
Caldas began his studies in the city of Popayán in the Seminary of Popayán. He later studied in the Colegio del Rosario
Our Lady of the Rosary University
The Universidad del Rosario is a university originally founded on Roman Catholic principles, in 1653 by Fray Cristobal de Torres. Located in Bogotá, Colombia, due to its important place in Colombian history, it is known as "The Cradle of the Republic". It had also a primary and secundary school...

 graduating in Law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

 but was also passionate for mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...

, astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...

 and natural sciences.
Caldas was part of numerous scientific expeditions including the ones with José Celestino Mutis
José Celestino Mutis
-External links:*** at The Catholic Encyclopedia official site...

 and Alexander von Humboldt
Alexander von Humboldt
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander Freiherr von Humboldt was a German naturalist and explorer, and the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt...

.
 
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