Francisco Ruiz Lozano
Encyclopedia
Ruiz Lozano was born in Oruro
Oruro, Bolivia
Oruro is a city in Bolivia with a population of 235,393 , located about equidistant between La Paz and Sucre at approximately 3710 meters above sea level. It is the capital of the department of Oruro....
(now in Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
). He studied with the Jesuits in Lima at the College of San Martín. It was here that he acquired his love of mathematics. He also studied hydrography, as a mathematical science. In 1651, he moved to Mexico City to continue his studies at the University of Mexico
National Autonomous University of Mexico
The Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México is a university in Mexico. UNAM was founded on 22 September 1910 by Justo Sierra as a liberal alternative to the Roman Catholic-sponsored Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico The Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) (National Autonomous...
. In Mexico, he also learned navigation, not only in theory, but also in practice. Together with his teacher, Fray Diego Rodríguez, he observed the Comet of 1652. They reported on it in Discurso ethereológico del nuevo cometa, visto en aqueste Hemisferio Mexicano; y generalmente en todo el mundo. Este año de 1652, published that year in Mexico City.
He returned to Lima in 1655 in the party of the new viceroy, Luis Enríquez de Guzmán, conde de Alba de Liste. Enríquez de Guzmán had been viceroy of New Spain, and was now taking up his new position in Peru. He appointed Ruiz Lozano captain of Spanish infantry. Ruiz Lozano went to Concepción
Concepción Province, Peru
Concepción Province is one of nine provinces in the Junín Region in central Peru. Its capital is Concepción.Notable sites include El convento de Ocopa, which contains a vast library and artefacts that were acquired from the first Spanish expeditions to the Peruvian Amazon rainforest.-Political...
, where he helped suppress an uprising of the Indigenous
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
.
He served as the first director of the nautical school founded in 1657 in Lima, at the Hospital of Espiritu Santo, a sailors' hospital. The mission of the nautical academic was "to form men skillful in the handling of ships for the defense of the viceroyalty." He was also cosmógrafo mayor of Peru. The duties of cosmógrafo mayor included publishing almanacs and sailing instructions. He served for several years as the director of the Hospital of Espiritu Santo, improving its building and its financial situation.
In 1658 he married Jacoba de la Cueva, a native of Lima. He was tutor to the sons of Viceroy Enríquez de Guzmán and, together with Juan Ramón Koening, a tutor to the son of the viceroy who succeeded Enríquez de Guzmán, Diego de Benavides y de la Cueva
Diego de Benavides y de la Cueva
Diego de Benavides de La Cueva y Bazán, 8th Count of Santisteban del Puerto and 1st Marquis of Solera , was a Spanish military officer, diplomat, writer and colonial administrator...
. He held the first university chair of mathematics in Peru.
In 1660 or 1661 he was in Portobelo
Portobelo, Panama
Portobelo is a port city in Colón Province, Panama. It is located on the northern part of the Isthmus of Panama and has a deep natural harbor. Today, Portobelo is a sleepy city with a population of fewer than 3,000...
, 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...
, where he acquired various kinds of merchandise and also Negro slaves, for resale in Lima. In 1662 he was in Panama City
Panama City
Panama is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Panama. It has a population of 880,691, with a total metro population of 1,272,672, and it is located at the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, in the province of the same name. The city is the political and administrative center of the...
on similar business. Over his lifetime, he pursued mercantile affairs nearly everywhere in Spanish America — 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...
, Cartagena de Indias, Acapulco
Acapulco
Acapulco is a city, municipality and major sea port in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific coast of Mexico, southwest from Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semi-circular bay and has been a port since the early colonial period of Mexico’s history...
, Valparaiso
Valparaíso
Valparaíso is a city and commune of Chile, center of its third largest conurbation and one of the country's most important seaports and an increasing cultural center in the Southwest Pacific hemisphere. The city is the capital of the Valparaíso Province and the Valparaíso Region...
, Concepción and Talcahuano
Talcahuano
Talcahuano is a port city and commune in the Biobío Region of Chile. It is part of the Greater Concepción conurbation. Talcahuano is located in the south of the Central Zone of Chile.-Geography:...
.
Later, probably under the government of Baltasar de la Cueva Enríquez
Baltasar de la Cueva Enríquez
Don Baltasar de la Cueva y Enríquez de Cabrera, iure uxoris Count of Castellar and Marquis of Malagón was viceroy of Peru from August 15, 1674 to July 7, 1678.He was a younger son of the Duke of Alburquerque, and brother of Francisco Fernández de la Cueva, 8th Duke...
, Count of Castellar (1674-1678), Ruiz Lozano was named general of the navy of the Southern Sea.
In 1665 in Lima he published Tratado de Cometas, observación y juicio del que se vió en esta ciudad de los Reyes, y generalmente en todo el Mundo, por los fines del año 1664 y principios de 1665 (Treatise on Comets, observation and judgment of what I saw in the City of Kings [Lima], and generally anywhere in the world, from the end of 1664 to the beginning of 1665). This report was the first publication of European astronomical observations in South America. The comet had first been observed on December 11, 1664.
He died in Mexico City, apparently on a commercial venture involving the trading of mercury.