2023-12-21 19:30:00
The doctor and scientist is considered the first Argentine naturalist. Among his extensive research, he stands out for being a precursor of paleontology in Argentina.
Francisco Javier Muñiz was born in the current district of San Isidro and at just twelve years old he enlisted as a cadet in the Andalusian Regiment to fight in the defense of Buenos Aires during the English invasions of 1807.
He was wounded in combat and after his recovery he studied at the Military Institute founded by Cosme Argerich to train surgeons for the army.
Muñiz graduated as a doctor in 1822 and three years later he was surgeon to the Chascomús Guard, where he organized the first field hospital.
During his free time in Chascomús he dedicated himself to observing nature and investigating the flora and fauna he found fossil remains of a glyptodont and a large armadillo, species that were not known at that time.
After a period of medical practices and study of natural sciences, he was called again to join the ranks of the army as a principal surgeon and with the rank of lieutenant colonel.
His outstanding and intense work in the battle of Ituzaingó during the Brazilian War earned him various decorations, including the coat of arms of the Republic.
In 1828 he was appointed police doctor of the Villa de Luján and was a leader in the health fight against smallpox and scarlet fever, promoter of the free administration of vaccines.
Muñiz trained as an expert naturalist and continued his paleontological research, extracting an extraordinary series of fossils from the ravines of the Luján River. His main discovery was the “Fossil Tiger”, today known as “Smilodon bonaerensis”.
His works on Argentine Paleontology were compiled by Domingo Faustino Sarmiento decades later. Muñiz donated his largest collection of fossils to the Buenos Aires museum and even exchanged correspondence with the British naturalist Charles Darwin.
In 1848, at the age of 53, he returned permanently to Buenos Aires and became the personal doctor of Juan Manuel de Rosas.
He participated as a military doctor advisor in the Battle of Caseros and entered politics as a deputy of the State of Buenos Aires and later a provincial senator.
Muñiz was president of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Buenos Aires and despite his advanced age he returned to military duties, working as a surgeon both in the Battle of Cepeda and in the Argentine camps in the War of the Triple Alliance.
After his retirement he was a volunteer doctor to help victims during the yellow fever epidemic in Buenos Aires. He contracted the disease and died at age 75 on April 8, 1871.
He is remembered for his dedication to medicine and for his intelligence applied to science.
On December 21, 1795, Francisco Javier Muñiz was born.
The story is also news on Radio Perfil. Script by Nicolás Ziccardi and voice over by Pita Fortín.
by Radio Profile
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