Anacleto Del Rosario

Anacleto del Rosario y Sales (July 13, 1860, Santa Cruz, Manila – May 2, 1895) was a leading chemist in the Philippines during the Spanish era in Philippine history. Regarded as the "Father of Philippine Science and Laboratory", del Rosario invented the formula for producing a pure kind of alcohol from ''tuba'' in a nipa palm. This formula won for del Rosario the first prize during the World Fair in Paris, France in 1889. Del Rosario extracted castor oil from the '' palma christi'', literally the "palm of Christ" (castor bean), a native plant in the Philippines.ANACLETO DEL ROSARIO
retrieved on May 29, 2011

Anacleto del Rosario was born in Santa Cruz, Manila. Born to a native Filipino family, he gained high honors in Ateneo de Manila University and University of Santo Tomas, from Ateneo de Manila University he met Dr. José Rizal. He was known to be the first homegrown scientist of the Philippines by becoming the first Director of the Manila City laboratory. His position lead him to establish the beginnings of Science and technology in the Philippines by increasing the standards for quality control on essential items and investigation of natural resources. He married once and had three children.retrieved on November 20, 2020

Early life

Anacleto del Rosario was born on July 13, 1860, at Santa Cruz, Manila to Eugenio del Rosario and Casimira del Rosario (nee. Sales). He was the sixth of eleven children in the family. His father was a cordon manufacturer for the Spanish colonial army in the Philippines. His father died when he was five years old. The del Rosario family lived in the district of Quiotan, now named Sales after the maternal family name. The family relied on selling fruits and vegetables for a living. His mother Casimira taught the young Anacleto on how to read the alphabet.

Education

Anacleto del Rosario first studied in a private institution, and his rather stern relative was his guardian who supervised his schooling. In return for the tutelage of his guardian, Anacleto had to wash the bottles in his Aunt's drugstore. Accounts from his son Jose relates that he escapes through the window of the bathroom of their own home just to go out and borrow books from classmates. His uncle, a lawyer, also supervised his schooling.

At the age of 13, he enrolled into Ateneo de Manila University as a third-year student. His intellect and diligence led him to earn the respect of his own schoolmates. He joined the ''Congregacion Mariana'', a religious organization which only allows students of high moral and academic standing to join. He also became the president of the said organization. During this time he met José Rizal and he became acquainted with him. During his years in Ateneo, he made and sold electric bells , household fixtures, and toys to earn money. He gained his Bachelor in Arts degree on April 1, 1876, with the highest honors (''Nota Maxima'').

At the age of 16, along with José Rizal, he enrolled into University of Santo Tomas. He faced financial problems while studying in the University of Santo Tomas so he enrolled again into the Ateneo de Manila University. He studied land surveying and took part-time jobs. He received a degree in land surveying in 1881. He surveyed large tracts of land especially from affluent families such as the Aranetas and the Lopezes. Using the money earned from surveying, he decided to buy a microscope and books relating to microbiology. At the age of 22, he received a degree in pharmacy with the highest honors (''sobresaliente''), and a year later a Master of Science degree in pharmacy (''Licenciatura''). Other degrees include a preparatory course in Natural History (1876-1877), first year in Plant Pharmaceutical Matter (1877-1878), second year in Animal and Mineral Pharmaceutical Matter (1878-1879), third year in Chemical-inorganic Pharmacy (1879-1880), and fourth year in Chemical-organic Pharmacy (1880-1881). All of these except his first year has the highest honors. His first year has a high honors (''notable'').

Early career

Anacleto del Rosario first engaged in the pharmaceutical business. He first partnered with Don Enrique Perez and Don Benito Legarda in the importation and selling of pharmaceutical products. He started his own pharmacy from selling his own share in the partnership and named the pharmacy ''Farmacia A. del Rosario'' on calle San. Fernando, Binondo, (now San. Fernando St.). He then became a chemist at the LA Rosario distillery. During the outbreak of cholera in June 1882, under Fernando Primo de Rivera, he was assigned to the ''Lazareto de Mariveles''. This piqued his interest in bacteriology and made extensive studies about the causes of cholera. Robert Koch isolated the Vibrio cholerae bacteria two years later in 1884.

On June 17, 1882, he was appointed as a pharmacist member (''Vocal farmaceutico'') of the Commission of Health. He also became a member of the ''Junta Inspectora de Bilibid'' on March 11, 1883. Two years later, it was named the ''Farmacetuco municipal de Binondo''.

Directorship of the Manila City Laboratory and later career

Directorship of Manila City Laboratory

In 1886, Anacleto del Rosario took the examinations at the Manila Mint (''Casa de Moneda''). There he passed a thesis in analytical chemistry describing the analytical procedures of a volumetric kind, and the apparatus used in a laboratory. This gave him the directorship of ''Laboratorio Municipal de la cuidad de Manila'' (Municipal Laboratory of the City of Manila) in 1887.

Using his position as the director, he studied the medical waters in San Miguel, Bulacan, Los Baños, Laguna, Mabitac, Laguna, and Albay

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