Mexican clergyman and naturalist of Spanish descent, José Antonio de Alzate y Ramírez collected many natural history and archaeological specimens and made important meteorological observations. Born in Ozumba in the old province of Chalco (present day Mexico state) he graduated as a bachelor of arts in 1753, having studied theology at the College of San Ildelfonso. Alzate was ordained as a Presbyterian in 1756 but throughout his life he was also devoted to the study of the natural sciences and developed an extensive library and collection.
Through the abbot Chappe, Alzate was in contact with the Academy of Sciences in Paris and he became their correspondent for the natural history of the area. Alzate sent them a number of specimens, including plants, fish, spiders and butterflies and his letters informed them of the local landscape, geography, diseases and the work of his fellow naturalists. In 1768 he founded the seminal publication El Diario Literario de México, and later also began the Gazeta de Literatura de México which was published between 1787 and 1795. He also created a short lived publication on various scientific and arts issues.
Alzate befriended the young Mexican academic, José Mariano Moçiño, and welcomed him into the scientific community. The two of them detested traditional philosophical scholars and both published critiques of scholasticism in the Gazeta. Alzate's influence on Moçiño led him to turn from philosophy to the study of natural history, which would later lead to his playing a central role in the Botanical Expedition to New Spain. Alzate was also a companion of Antonio Pineda, a naturalist on the Malaspina Expedition, although he generally considered the Spanish on the botanical expeditions to be arrogant and disliked their introduction of the Linnaean system in the country.
He spent many years making important astronomical observations, including works on the aurora borealis which were published in 1789. The researchers on the Botanical Expedition to Peru named the genus Alzatea in his honour and in 1970 a Mexican oceanographic vessel was also named after him. The Antonio Alzate Scientific Associtation was created in 1884, which as of 1935 has been the National Sciences Academy of Mexico.
Sources:
Anon. Apendice: José Antonio de Alzate y Ramírez. Instituto Latinoamericano de la Comunicación Educativa. Biblioteca Digital:
http://bibliotecadigital.ilce.edu.mx/sites/ciencia/volumen1/ciencia2/46/htm/sec_26.html
Barras y de Aragon, F. de las, 1950, "Noticia de la vida y obras de José Antonio Alzate y Ramírez", Boletín de la Sociedad de Historia Natural 48: 339-353
Olmo, M. de and Monge, F., 1998, Las Noticias de Nutka de José Mariano Moziño. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas. Madrid
Ricket, H. W., 1949, The Royal Botanical Expedition to New Spain. The Cronica Botanica Co. Waltham, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
San Pío Aladrén, M. P. de, Puig-Samper Mulero, M. A., Bernabéu Albert, S., 1999, Las flores del Paraíso: la expedición botánica de Cuba en los siglos XVIII y XIX. Real Jardín Botánico: Caja Madrid. Madrid.
