Thaddaeus Haenke (Sentanka)
Thaddaeus Haenke
A man of thousand talents
Scientist and musician
His heart belonged to the Indios
His grave will never be found
-----------------------------------------
Thaddaeus Haenke
Ein Mann mit tausend Talenten
Wissenschaftler und Musiker
Sein Herz schlug für die Indios
Sein Grab wird man nie finden
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Tadeo Henke
Un hombre de miles talentos
Científico y músico
Tenía un gran corazón para los indios
Su tumba nunca lo encontrarán
Note:
Thaddaeus Xaverius Peregrinus Haenke, also Tadeo Haenke, (*1761 in Kreibitz (Chribská),
Bohemia, † 1816 in Cochabamba, Bolivia) was a German geographer, chemist, botanist and
a studied philosopher, scientist, musician and explorer. He studies medicine, chemistry
astronomy and botany in Prague and vienna. He missed the ship of the Spanish expedition
lead by Alessandro Malaspina di Mulazzo. Unluckily the ship he then took sank in the delta of
the River Plate but he survived and crossed the Andes on foot. He arrived in Santiago de
Chile on April 2nd, 1790 and met the expedition there. He collected thousands of plants,
insects and prepared animals which he sent to Madird. He studied local languages and took
notes and made studies on ethnology and ethnolinguistics. He observed volcanoes anf
thermal springs, silver mines in Potosí and rivers in Ecuador. He was the first European to
climb the Chimborazo and other peaks of the Andes. Then he settled in Cochabamba, Bolivia
and married Sebastiana Orozco, a mestiza-girl. He made scienticic studies for Spanish
ministries and improved the extraction of copper and glass-production in Cochabamba and
introduced a smallpox-vaccination, the first in Southamerica. He also opened Southamerica's
first pharmacy for which he produced his own products. He is until today highly esteemed by
the Indios. He developed explosives from salpeter found in the Atacama Desert of which the
Spanish army profited. He discovered Victoria regia and Puya raimondii in Perú. During the
revolutionary chaos he died under myterious circumstances on November 14th 1816 at the
age of 54 in his house in Cochabamba. Poisoning as cause of his death could be possible. His
personal belongings were confiscated by the Spanish government. Indios buried him at an
unknown place in the Atacama Desert. Some of his descendants are still living in
Southamerica. His scriptures and objects of studies are widely spread at European
universities and collections.
Copyright © Gert W. Knop | Year Posted 2010
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