Federico Craveri (

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

, 1815 –

Bra A bra, short for brassiere or brassière (, or ; ), is a form-fitting undergarment that is primarily used to support and cover breasts. It can serve a range of other practical and aesthetic purposes, including enhancing or reducing the appear ...

, 1890) was an Italian

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

ethnographer Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

meteorologist A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists in research, while t ...

and naturalist noted for his studies in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Biography

Federico Craveri studied

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

and

meteorology Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not ...

at the

University of Turin The University of Turin (Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Torino'', UNITO) is a public research university in the city of Turin, in the Piedmont region of Italy. It is one of the oldest universities in Europe and continues to play an impo ...

. In 1840 he moved to Mexico, which had recently gained independence from Spain. From 1840 until 1859 he taught chemistry at the

National Museum A national museum is a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In other countries a much greater numb ...

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

. In Mexico, he obtained a graduation in Chemistry and Pharmacy. In 1847 he was joined in Mexico for two years by his brother Ettore, who shared similar interest in nature. Federico Craveri explored this country for a few years (1855–1857) to study its geology, with particular regard to the

Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt The Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt ( es, Eje Volcánico Transversal), also known as the Transvolcanic Belt and locally as the (''Snowy Mountain Range''), is an active volcanic belt that covers central-southern Mexico. Several of its highest peaks h ...

. In Mexico as well in the United States Federico Craveri collected specimens of many animals and plants. These collections were placed, on his return to Italy, in the family home of

. For thirty years he took care of the classification of the material brought back from his travels, that included an extensive collection of birds notably

hummingbird Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the biological family Trochilidae. With about 361 species and 113 genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but the vast majority of the species are found in the tropics aro ...

s. Until his death he taught at the University of Turin. The private collections of the Craveri family were donated to the town of

and now they are kept at the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale Federico ed Ettore Craveri, which bears the name of both brothers. Part of the collections are also kept in the Museum of Natural History in Turin.

Travels

Federico Craveri accomplished three voyages of discovery in Northern and Central America. Following a mandate conferred by the Mexican government, in 1855 he first explored the islands of the Gulf of California in search of

guano Guano (Spanish from qu, wanu) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. As a manure, guano is a highly effective fertilizer due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. G ...

then used as organic fertilizer. He explored the mining region of

Sinaloa Sinaloa (), officially the Estado Libre y Soberano de Sinaloa ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sinaloa), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is d ...

succeeding in finding some new mines. The following year he explored the coasts of the Pacific and the Islands of

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

, until then little known and virtually uninhabited, but rich in birds and marine mammals. He discovered a new island to which he gave the name of Elide, in memory of his first tormented love. He returned to this island in 1857, taking possession in the name of the Mexican Government. Then he made a second expedition to the mining region of

.Biologia Marina – La scoperta di Baja California
/ref> In 1858 Federico Craveri left for San Francisco, went to

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are o ...

and sailed up the

Fraser River The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of Vancouver. The river's annual d ...

. Finally he made an exploratory trip to the gold-mining region of California. In 1859 he reached Panama and then Cuba. He went up the

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

Saint Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

. He sailed on the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

and reached the

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Falls, ...

. He then visited New York, Washington and Boston and finally on September 11, 1959 he returned to his father's birthplace in Italy, Bra, after 19 years of absence. During his travels, Craveri also discovered a new species of murrelet ('' Synthliboramphus craveri''), which in 1865 was described, named and dedicated to Federico Craveri and

Ettore Craveri Federico Craveri (Turin, 1815 – Bra, 1890) was an Italian explorer, ethnographer, geologist, meteorologist and naturalist noted for his studies in Mexico. Biography Federico Craveri studied chemistry and meteorology at the University of Turin. ...

by the ornithologist

Tommaso Salvadori Count Adelardo Tommaso Salvadori Paleotti (30 September 1835 – 9 October 1923) was an Italian zoologist and ornithologist. Biography Salvadori was born in Porto San Giorgio, son of Count Luigi Salvadori and Ethelyn Welby, who was English. His ...

, in acknowledgment of the fact that the Craveri brothers had enriched the

Turin Museum of Natural History The Turin Museum of Natural History (Italian: ''Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali di Torino'' or MRSN) was established in 1978 to house the natural history collections of the University of Turin and other collections of natural history, origin ...

with many species of birds of Mexico and California. This bird is now known in North American literature as

Craveri's Murrelet Craveri's murrelet (''Synthliboramphus craveri'') is a small seabird which breeds on offshore islands in both the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California off the Baja peninsula of Mexico. It also wanders fairly regularly as far as central Calif ...

. The name of the Italian naturalist Craveri is also borne by an extinct crab (''

Retropluma craverii ''Retropluma craverii'' is an extinct species of heterotrematan crabs belonging to the family Retroplumidae. The species name ''craverii'' honors the Italian explorer and naturalist Federico Craveri. Fossil record Fossils of ''Retropluma crav ...

''), an extinct turtle (''Testudo craverii'') and an extinct cephalopod mollusk (''Sepia craverii''), from the tertiary period of Piedmont. Various species of Mexican diptera were dedicated to his brother Ettore Craveri ('' Tipula craverii'', '' Tabanus craverii'', '' Mallophora craverii'' and '' Diogmites craverii'').Luigi Bellardi - Saggio di ditterologia messicana - Memorie della Reale accademia delle scienze di Torino

Insect collections

General Insecta collections from Italy and Mexico collected by Frederico and Ettore are held by Museo Civico di Storia Naturale "Federico ed Ettore Craveri" (Bra) ; Coleoptera from Mexico are held by

Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova The Museo Civico di Storia Naturale Giacomo Doria is a natural history museum in Genoa, northern Italy. It is named after the naturalist Giacomo Doria, who was the founder and the curator for over forty years. The museum was founded in 1867 and c ...

; Diptera from Mexico are in the

Luigi Bellardi Luigi Bellardi (18 May 1818 – 17 September 1889) was an Italian malacologist and entomologist who specialised in Diptera. Bellardi was born in Genoa and died in Turin. His collection is in the Turin Museum of Natural History In 1872, then a P ...

, collection in Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali di Torino.

Bibliography

Fra indios e yankees. Viaggi in America di Federico Craveri.
Amministrazione comunale di Bra * Bowen, T. 2013. The type locality of Craveri's murrelet Synthliboramphus craveri. Marine Ornithology 41:49–54. * Edward S. Gruson (1972). Words for Birds. A Lexicon of North American Birds with Biographical Notes, Quadrangle Books (New York) : xiv + 305 p. * Federico Craver
Avventura ed esplorazione naturalistica in America Centrosettentrionale 1855-1859 - Giornale di Viaggio - Vol. I
Editore: Museo Civico Craveri-Bra * Storrs L. Olson
The name of then Craveri Brothers' Murrelet
Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560 * Thomas Bowen, Enriqueta Velarde, Daniel W. Anderson, and Stephen A. Marlet
Federico Craveri and changes in nesting seabirds on Isla Rasa, Gulf of California, since 1856
* Velarde, E., C. J. Navarro, E. A. Ruiz, and A. Aguilar. 2011. The status of Craveri's murrelet Synthliboramphus craveri and reoccupation of a former nesting area. Marine Ornithology 39:269–273.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Craveri, Federico 1815 births 1890 deaths Scientists from the Kingdom of Sardinia Italian explorers Italian naturalists Scientists from Turin