Agustín de Betancourt y Molina ( rus, Августин Августинович де Бетанкур, r=Avgustin Avgustinovich de Betankur; french: Augustin Bétancourt; 1 February 1758 – 24 July 1824) was a prominent Spanish
engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the lim ...
, who worked in
Spain,
France and
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eight ...
. His work ranged from
steam engines and
balloons
A balloon is a flexible bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, and air. For special tasks, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), or light s ...
to
structural engineering and
urban planning. As an
educator
A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching.
''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...
, Betancourt founded and managed the Spanish Corps of Civil Engineers and the
Saint Petersburg Institute of Communications Engineers. As an
urban planner and construction manager, Betancourt supervised planning and construction in Saint Petersburg,
Kronstadt
Kronstadt (russian: Кроншта́дт, Kronshtadt ), also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt or Kronštádt (from german: link=no, Krone for "crown" and ''Stadt'' for "city") is a Russian port city in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city ...
,
Nizhny Novgorod and other Russian cities.
Childhood and education
De Betancourt was born in
Puerto de la Cruz
Puerto de la Cruz is a city and municipality in the northern part of the island of Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain. It was formerly known by its English translation, "Port of the Cross", although now it is known by its Spanish name in all lang ...
,
Tenerife,
Spain. The
Tenerife Betancourt family can trace their roots to
Jean de Béthencourt
Jean de Béthencourt () (1362–1425) was a French explorer who in 1402 led an expedition to the Canary Islands, landing first on the north side of Lanzarote. From there he conquered for Castile the islands of Fuerteventura (1405) and El Hi ...
, who launched colonization of the
Canary Islands in 1402 and became a self-proclaimed King of Tenerife in 1417 under the overlordship of the King of Castile. Augustín's father, also Augustín de Betancourt y Castro, was a well-educated businessman with interests in textile machinery. His sister,
Maria del Carmen Betancourt y Molina, was the first known woman in Tenerife to publish a scientific article (also related to textile
dye
A dye is a colored substance that chemically bonds to the substrate to which it is being applied. This distinguishes dyes from pigments which do not chemically bind to the material they color. Dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution and ...
s).
In 1778, Augustin moved to
Madrid to study engineering at the San Isidro Royal College, and never returned to Tenerife again. His first jobs, after graduation in 1783, were related to the
Aragon Canal and mining in
Almadén. In 1784, he travelled to
Paris to study
hydraulics
Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counter ...
and
mechanics at the School of Bridges and Roads.
Career in Spain and France
Intelligence missions
In France, Betancourt published treatises on engineering (e.g. on coal mining), but his real assignment was to scout new technologies for the benefit of Spain and to acquire modern machinery for the future Cabinet of Machinery in Madrid, envisioned by
Chief minister Floridablanca. In 1788, he travelled to
England, visiting
James Watt
James Watt (; 30 January 1736 (19 January 1736 OS) – 25 August 1819) was a Scottish inventor, mechanical engineer, and chemist who improved on Thomas Newcomen's 1712 Newcomen steam engine with his Watt steam engine in 1776, which was fu ...
and
Matthew Boulton
Matthew Boulton (; 3 September 172817 August 1809) was an English manufacturer and business partner of Scottish engineer James Watt. In the final quarter of the 18th century, the partnership installed hundreds of Boulton and Watt, Boulton & ...
, pioneers in
steam engines. Watt was reluctant to reveal the secrets of his trade, but Betancourt inspected Watt's engines working in
London mills. Back in Paris, he wrote a treatise on steam engines and designed a steam-powered pump and a mechanical
loom, also sending a collection of machinery to Madrid. In 1791, he concentrated on naval technologies – harbor
dredging
Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing da ...
and drilling
gun barrels (his own
dredge
Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing da ...
design materialized twenty years later, in
Kronstadt
Kronstadt (russian: Кроншта́дт, Kronshtadt ), also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt or Kronštádt (from german: link=no, Krone for "crown" and ''Stadt'' for "city") is a Russian port city in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city ...
). Shortly before the
fall of French monarchy, Betancourt returned to Madrid with his new finds.
In 1792, Betancourt was appointed the Director of the Royal Cabinet of Machinery, and catalogued hundreds of its exhibits scouted in France, England and the
Netherlands. In 1793-1795, he continued intelligence in England. This assignment was interrupted by Spain's alliance with revolutionary France (1796). In Paris, Betancourt teamed up with
Abraham-Louis Breguet
Abraham-Louis Breguet (10 January 1747 – 17 September 1823), born in Neuchâtel, then a Prussian principality, was a horologist who made many innovations in the course of a career in watchmaking industry. He was the founder of the Breguet ...
in perfecting their version of the
optical telegraph
An optical telegraph is a line of stations, typically towers, for the purpose of conveying textual information by means of visual signals. There are two main types of such systems; the semaphore telegraph which uses pivoted indicator arms and ...
. Later however, the French chose a competing design by
Claude Chappe
Claude Chappe (; 25 December 1763 – 23 January 1805) was a French inventor who in 1792 demonstrated a practical semaphore system that eventually spanned all of France. His system consisted of a series of towers, each within line of sight o ...
. Betancourt built his telegraph in Spain, between Madrid and
Cádiz
Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia.
Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...
in 1798. In 1783 he was involved in launching Spain's first hot-air balloon (the scene can be seen in a picture by A. Carnicero in the Prado national museum).
Administrative career
In 1797, Betancourt's achievements were rewarded with the positions of Chief Inspector of Ports and Communications in Spain, Chief of the Corps of Engineers of the Spanish military, and other important assignments. In 1802, he founded Spain's first civil engineering college, the School of the Corps of Engineers, and managed the institution until 1807.
Soon after the establishment in 1794 of the
École Polytechnique in Paris,
Gaspard Monge
Gaspard Monge, Comte de Péluse (9 May 1746 – 28 July 1818) was a French mathematician, commonly presented as the inventor of descriptive geometry, (the mathematical basis of) technical drawing, and the father of differential geometry. During ...
had proposed a class on the analysis of mechanisms and described the subject to fellow teachers. When the class was first taught in 1806 by
Hachette Hachette may refer to:
* Hachette (surname)
* Hachette (publisher), a French publisher, the imprint of Lagardère Publishing
** Hachette Book Group, the American subsidiary
** Hachette Distribution Services, the distribution arm
See also
* Hachett ...
, Betancourt was among its students. Another student was
José María Lanz, whose lecture notes were revised and published together with Betancourt as ''Essai sur la composition des machines'' (1808; 2nd ed. 1819; 3rd ed. 1840), encouraged to do so by Monge and Hachette.
["José María Lanz y Zaldívar (1764-1839)", chapter by Carlos S. López Cajún in ''Distinguished Figures in Mechanism and Machine Science'', (2010), pages 111-121; this is volume 7 of the series "History of mechanism and machine science", Springer Verlag]
information from the publisher
This textbook on machine design became widespread in European universities. It was translated to English as ''Analytical essay of the construction of machines'' (1820, published by
Rudolph Ackermann
Rudolph Ackermann (20 April 1764 in Schneeberg, Electorate of Saxony – 30 March 1834 in Finchley, London) was an Anglo-German bookseller, inventor, lithographer, publisher and businessman.
Biography
He attended the Latin school in Stollbe ...
) and by
Thomas Fenwick as ''Essays on practical mechanics'' (1822) and to German by Wilhelm Kreyher as ''Versuch über die Zusammensetzung der Maschinen'' (1829).
In 1807, Betancourt left Spain for Paris, where he was inducted into the
French Academy of Sciences; ironically, James Watt was inducted simultaneously. Betancourt was recruited into Russian service by
Ivan Muravyov-Apostol (Ambassador to Spain until 1806) and left France for
Saint Petersburg in 1808.
Career in Russia
Betancourt joined Russian service in the rank of
Major General, assigned to the Directorate of Communications. His first extant work is the famous fountain in
Tsarskoye Selo (1810), with sculpture by
Pavel Sokolov immortalized by
Alexander Pushkin
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...
's poetry. In 1816, Betancourt was promoted to head the Commission for Construction and Hydraulics, a national institution targeted primarily at Saint Petersburg development; since 1819 he also headed the Directorate of Communications. He recruited and trained such architects as
Auguste de Montferrand
Auguste de Montferrand (; January 23, 1786 – July 10, 1858) was a French classicist architect who worked primarily in Russia. His two best known works are the Saint Isaac's Cathedral and the Alexander Column in St. Petersburg.
Early ...
and
Leo Carboniere.
Structural engineering
In 1811–1813, Betancourt built Saint Petersburg's first bridge across
Malaya Nevka
The Little Nevka or Malaya Nevka (russian: Ма́лая Не́вка) is the southern distributary of the Great Nevka. The Great Nevka splits into Little Nevka (the southern armlet) and Middle Nevka (the northern armlet) near the Kamenny Isla ...
, connecting
Kamenny Island
Kamenny Islands (russian: Каменные острова, ''Kamenny Ostrova'', meaning 'Stony Islands') are a group of three islands in the Neva delta, in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Geography
The three islands are flat. They are divided by chan ...
with
Aptekarsky Island
Aptekarsky Island (russian: Апте́карский о́стров, , "Apothecary Island", fi, Korpisaari, "Deep Forest Island") is a relatively small island situated in the northern part of the Neva delta. It is separated from Petrogradsky Is ...
that is known as
Kamennoostrovsky Bridge
Kamennoostrovsky Bridge spans the Little Nevka River and connects Aptekarsky Island with Kamenny Island in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Originally constructed as a floating pontoon bridge in 1760. Between 1811 and 1813, Kamennoostrovsky Bridge b ...
now. This seven-span wooden bridge, named after Betancourt, served for a record fifty years and was the only wooden bridge to survive the disastrous 1824 flood. He designed similar bridges for
Warsaw,
Tula
Tula may refer to:
Geography
Antarctica
*Tula Mountains
* Tula Point
India
* Tulā, a solar month in the traditional Indian calendar
Iran
* Tula, Iran, a village in Hormozgan Province
Italy
* Tula, Sardinia, municipality (''comune'') in the ...
and
Peterhof.
In 1816,
Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I (; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first King of Congress Poland from 1815, and the Grand Duke of Finland from 1809 to his death. He was the eldest son of Emperor Paul I and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg.
The son of Gra ...
assigned Betancourt to find an architect for rebuilding
Saint Isaac's Cathedral
Saint Isaac's Cathedral or Isaakievskiy Sobor (russian: Исаа́киевский Собо́р) is a large architectural landmark cathedral that currently functions as a museum with occasional church services in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is ...
. Betancourt promoted Montferrand and, in February 1818, the Tsar approved Montferrand's fifth draft. Betancourt provided Montferrand with an efficient, thoroughly calculated dome design utilizing three interconnected steel domes without any masonry vaults. Cathedral construction was delayed until Betancourt's death; the dome was erected only in 1841.
In Moscow, Betancourt supervised construction of the
Moscow Manege (1817). Architectural design was assigned to
Leo Carboniere. The building, 166
meters long and 44.7 meters wide, required a single-span roof without any internal columns. Betancourt personally designed the wooden roof
trusses and completed the whole project in six months. By 1824, roofing required replacement; new trusses, installed in 1824–1825, served until the fire of 2004.
Urban planning
In 1816, accidental fire destroyed the
Makaryev Fair
Nizhny Novgorod Fair (''old name — Makaryev Fair'') (russian: Нижегородская ярмарка) was a fair in Nizhny Novgorod held annually every July near Makaryev Monastery on the left bank of the Volga River from the mid-16th cent ...
. The Fairgrounds were transferred to
Nizhny Novgorod, equipped with temporary wooden shacks. Betancourt visited the site in 1817 and proposed a six million rouble, four-year project to rebuild the Fair in stone. He supervised overall planning and financing, while Montferrand, as the chief architect, was designing individual buildings and ensembles. Despite his Petersburg projects, Betancourt travelled to Nizhny Novgorod every year to inspect the progress of construction. The Saviour Cathedral, also known as Old Fair Cathedral (Спасский собор, Староярмарочный собор), was designed by Betancourt (overall structure) and Montferrand (facade and interiors) together and completed in 1822, the year when the Fair opened for its first season. The fair operated until 1930.
Betancourt designed other buildings for Nizhny, including the city jail, three brick foundries, and helped in preservation of two ancient churches. Throughout the 19th century, the left bank of
Oka River was developing according to his master plan.
Naval engineering
Russia's first
steamship, ''Yelizaveta'' was designed jointly by
Charles Baird and Betancourt (1815).
In 1810, Betancourt completed his steam-powered
dredge
Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing da ...
. It was used to deepen the shallow waters around
Kronstadt
Kronstadt (russian: Кроншта́дт, Kronshtadt ), also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt or Kronštádt (from german: link=no, Krone for "crown" and ''Stadt'' for "city") is a Russian port city in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city ...
and build a canal between this island and the Izhorsky foundries on the mainland. He could not patent the design immediately, because Russian patent law was enacted later, in 1812; eventually, patent was granted to completely different people.
Currency printshop
After the
French invasion of Russia (1812)
The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign, the Second Polish War, the Army of Twenty nations, and the Patriotic War of 1812 was launched by Napoleon Bonaparte to force the Russian Empire back into the continental block ...
, Russian monetary system was ruined by war expenditure and a flood of counterfeit bills.
Dmitry Guriev
Count (from 1819) Dmitry Alexandrovich Guryev (January 18, 1758 – October 12, 1825, Saint Petersburg) was a Russian statesman, Court Master of the Court (from January 1, 1797), Senator (from October 20, 1799), Manager of the Imperial Cabinet ...
, Minister of Finance, assigned Betancourt to set up a modern currency printing facility. By 1816, Betancourt examined all existing printshop and persuaded the government to build a new factory equipped with steam-driven machinery. He designed the buildings, machinery and the technological process, using his childhood experience in textile mills. The new printshop (present-day Saint Petersburg
Goznak
Joint Stock Company "Goznak" (short for ''Государственный знак'', or State Insignia) is a Russian joint-stock company responsible for research and development as well as manufacturing security products including banknotes, coi ...
) was inaugurated in 1818.
Other projects
Betancourt is credited with design of Russia's first modern highway between Saint Petersburg and Moscow, as well as numerous industrial projects like
Tula
Tula may refer to:
Geography
Antarctica
*Tula Mountains
* Tula Point
India
* Tulā, a solar month in the traditional Indian calendar
Iran
* Tula, Iran, a village in Hormozgan Province
Italy
* Tula, Sardinia, municipality (''comune'') in the ...
and
Kazan armouries.
In 1809, Betancourt set up Saint Petersburg Institute of Communications Engineers, the nations' first engineering college, and headed the Institute until 1824.
Final years
In 1822, Betancourt fell into disfavor at the court, and lost his chair as the Director of Communications, but retained other state jobs. In 1823 he was struck by the death of his only daughter and never recovered from this loss. In February 1824 he finally resigned, and died on 14 July 1824 in
Saint Petersburg,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eight ...
. He was buried at the Smolensk
Lutheran cemetery in Saint Petersburg. His tomb, a 6.85-meter cast-iron column, was designed and made by Auguste de Montferrand and paid for by Nizhny Novgorod merchant society. In 1979, the grave was relocated to the
Lazarevskoe Cemetery
Lazarevskoe Cemetery (russian: Лазаревское кладбище) is a historic cemetery in the centre of Saint Petersburg, and the oldest surviving cemetery in the city. It is part of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, and is one of four cemeterie ...
in the
Alexander Nevsky Lavra
Saint Alexander Nevsky Lavra or Saint Alexander Nevsky Monastery was founded by Peter I of Russia in 1710 at the eastern end of the Nevsky Prospekt in Saint Petersburg, in the belief that this was the site of the Neva Battle in 1240 when Alex ...
.
Saint Petersburg has three monuments to Betancourt: in University Embankment, in Communications University and inside the Goznak currency printshop. ''Betancourt's Medal'' is an annual award instituted in 1997 by
Russian Railways for excellence in science and education.
Notes
References
* Russian bio: Ренкель, А., "Бетанкур — россиянин с острова Тенерифе", "Изобретатель и рационализатор" N.12(684), 200
* Russian bio, focusing on currency printing: Воробьева, Ольга, "Он научил Россию печатать деньги", "Водяной знак", N.7-8(15-16), 200
External links
* Betancourt Project (monographic website about Agustín de Betancourt, in Spanish, English and Russian
*The German "Digitale Mechanismen- und Getriebebibliothek" provides informatio
about Betancourtand has digitized:
**''Essai sur la composition des machines'' (2nd ed. 1819)
metadatafulltext viewer**''Versuch über die Zusammensetzung der Maschinen'' (1829
metadatafulltext viewer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Betancourt, Agustin
1758 births
1824 deaths
Agustin
Burials at Smolensky Lutheran Cemetery
Burials at Lazarevskoe Cemetery (Saint Petersburg)
École des Ponts ParisTech alumni
Imperial Russian Army generals
Inventors from the Russian Empire
People from Puerto de la Cruz
Russian military engineers
Spanish civil engineers
Spanish emigrants to the Russian Empire
Spanish engineers
Spanish inventors
Spanish urban planners