Ignacio Bolívar y Urrutia (; 9 November 1850 – 19 November 1944) was a Spanish

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

and

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

, and one of the

founding father The following is a list of national founders of sovereign states who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e., political system ...

s of Spanish entomology. He helped found the ''Real Sociedad Española de Historia Natural'' (Royal Spanish Natural History Society) in 1871, and was the author of several books and of over 1000

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

. He also encouraged other naturalists to study entomology, José María de la Fuente being one example. In this field he wrote more than 300 books and monographs and described more than thousand new species and about 200

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

. After the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

he was exiled to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

when the nationalist government harshly repressed Republican militants and sympathisers. Here he was made ''Doctor honoris'' of the

National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public university, public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countri ...

. In Mexico he was devoted mainly to entomology and founded in 1940 the journal ''Ciencia'' (Science).

Scientific work

His more important works include: ''Ortópteros de España nuevos o poco conocidos'' (1873) and ''Catálogo sinóptico de los ortópteros de la fauna ibérica'' (1900).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bolivar, Ignacio Mexican naturalists Spanish naturalists Spanish entomologists Spanish emigrants to Mexico 1850 births 1944 deaths Members of the Royal Spanish Academy