Fermín Vivaceta Rupio (January 12, 1829 – February 21, 1890) was a Chilean

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

teacher 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. whe ...

and

firefighter A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also ...

Life

Vivaceta was born in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

on January 12, 1829. He was son of Fermín Vivaceta, an

Argentinean Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish language, Spanish (Grammatical gender, masculine) or (Grammatical gender, feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be resident ...

citizen residing in

, and Juana Rupio. He was from a working-class family. From the age of thirteen, he was employed as an apprentice in a furniture factory during the day, while studying during the night. In 1846, he attended Instituto Nacional to study drawing, a course that was arranged by the government of

Manuel Bulnes Manuel Bulnes Prieto (; December 25, 1799 – October 18, 1866) was a Chilean military and political figure. He was twice President of Chile, from 1841 to 1846 and from 1846 to 1851. Born in Concepción, he served as the president of Chile bet ...

to train workers in industrial drawing. He also studied

geometry Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is c ...

and general

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

. In 1850, he was one of the first students of the ''Academia de Bellas Artes'' and became an architect. His architectural work was influenced by his mentor, the French architect François Brunet de Baines, who was also his partner in various of his works. He received commissions to design important buildings, including the

Casa Central de la Universidad de Chile The Casa Central de la Universidad de Chile, also known as ''Palacio de la Universidad de Chile'', is the main building for the Universidad de Chile, and is located at 1058 Alameda Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins, in Santiago, Chile. The building d ...

, the bell tower of the Iglesia de San Francisco, the seats of the Alameda de las Delicias, the

Mercado Central de Santiago The Mercado Central de Santiago is the central market of Santiago de Chile. It was opened in 1872 and Fermín Vivaceta was in charge of its construction. The market replaced the Plaza del Abasto, which was destroyed by a fire in 1864. The mar ...

, the Iglesia de los Doce Apóstoles in Valparaíso and the Fuerte Bueras. According to various experts, his best work was the towers of the Iglesia San Agustín. Fermin_Vivaceta

In 1858, he went on to be a member of the board of directors of the Sociedad de Instrucción Pública. Álvaro Covarrubias,

Domingo Santa María Domingo Santa María González (; August 4, 1825 – July 18, 1889) was a Chilean political figure. He served as the president of Chile between 1881 and 1886. Early life He was born in Santiago de Chile, the son of Luis José Santa María G ...

and Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna were also members of the board. His major achievement as a member of that board was the construction and development of evening schools for the education of workers, in which he also served as a teacher and inspector. In 1865, during the

Chincha Islands War The Chincha Islands War, also known as Spanish–South American War ( es, Guerra hispano-sudamericana), was a series of coastal and naval battles between Spain and its former colonies of Peru, Chile, Ecuador, and Bolivia from 1865 to 1879. The ...

, he moved to

Valparaíso Valparaíso (; ) is a major city, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the commune of Valparaíso, Chile. "Greater Valparaíso" is the second largest metropolitan area in the country. Valparaíso is located about northwest of Santiago ...

to serve as a volunteer firefighter for the city, living there for the rest of his life. Some years later, he become part of the Sociedad de Artesanos de Valparaíso and, in January 1877, along with 48 associates, founded the Sociedad de Trabajadores, created to eradicate tenements in the city and build decent houses for low-income workers. Despite his moderate political participation, he supported the Liberal candidatures of

, José Tomás Urmeneta and Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna. In 1882, Vivaceta suffered a severe

paralysis Paralysis (also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, roughly 1 in 50 ...

, losing sensitivity on the left side of his body. He remained in bad health until his death occurred on February 21, 1890.

Homages

The old Camino de Los Hornillos, in the northern portion of Santiago, was renamed as Fermín Vivaceta Avenue. On October 3, 1953, was erected a monument on that street, which was later relocated at the intersection of the

Alameda An alameda is a Avenue (landscape), street or path lined with trees () and may refer to: Places Canada *Alameda, Saskatchewan, town in Saskatchewan **Grant Devine Dam, formerly ''Alameda Dam'', a dam and reservoir in southern Saskatchewan Chile ...

and Diagonal Paraguay.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vivaceta, Fermin Chilean schoolteachers Chilean architects People from Santiago 1829 births 1890 deaths