Luis Jorge Fontana
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Luis Jorge Fontana (born April 19, 1846 in
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
,
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...
; died October 18, 1920 in
San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...
, Argentina) was an Argentine military officer, explorer, geographer, writer, and politician. He was the first governor of the national territory of Chubut (now
Chubut Province Chubut ( es, Provincia del Chubut, ; cy, Talaith Chubut) is a province in southern Argentina, situated between the 42nd parallel south (the border with Río Negro Province), the 46th parallel south (bordering Santa Cruz Province), the Ande ...
) and founder of the city of
Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territori ...
. Fontana was born in Buenos Aires on April 19, 1846. His father was an official in the government of
Juan Manuel de Rosas Juan Manuel José Domingo Ortiz de Rosas (30 March 1793 – 14 March 1877), nicknamed "Restorer of the Laws", was an Argentine politician and army officer who ruled Buenos Aires Province and briefly the Argentine Confederation. Although ...
. When Fontana was young, his family moved to
Carmen de Patagones Carmen de Patagones is the southernmost city in the . Geography It is located 937 km southwest from the city of Buenos Aires, on the north bank of the Río Negro ("Black River"), near the Atlantic Ocean, and opposite Viedma, capital of ...
. At age thirteen, Fontana entered the Military Command of Río Negro as a trainee; he later fought in the
Paraguayan War The Paraguayan War, also known as the War of the Triple Alliance, was a South American war that lasted from 1864 to 1870. It was fought between Paraguay and the Triple Alliance of Argentina, the Empire of Brazil, and Uruguay. It was the deadlies ...
. After the war ended, he lived for a time in Buenos Aires, where he studied natural sciences, astronomy, and physics under
Hermann Burmeister Karl Hermann Konrad Burmeister (also known as Carlos Germán Conrado Burmeister) (15 January 1807 – 2 May 1892) was a German Argentine zoologist, entomologist, herpetologist, botanist, and coleopterologist. He served as a professor at the Uni ...
. He then returned to the army, and he was deployed on border expeditions exploring the
Gran Chaco The Gran Chaco or Dry Chaco is a sparsely populated, hot and semiarid lowland natural region of the Río de la Plata basin, divided among eastern Bolivia, western Paraguay, northern Argentina, and a portion of the Brazilian states of Mato ...
. During one expedition, he lost his left arm in a violent encounter with an indigenous group in the region. In 1879, Fontana founded the city of Formosa, and he was awarded the rank of lieutenant colonel. He then returned to
Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and g ...
, which he had visited as a child, and in 1884 he was named the first governor of the national territory of Chubut. There he directed the expedition to the west with an exploratory group named the Chubut Riflement (Rifleros del Chubut), which discovered the October 16 Valley (Valle 16 de Octubre), a fertile area in the foothills that would later be the site of the Welsh colony of
Trevelin Trevelin (; cy, Trefelin) is a town in the western part of the Patagonian Argentine province of Chubut. The town lies on the eastern banks of the ( es, Río Percey). It is located in the department of Futaleufú, south of Esquel, and had 6,3 ...
. Fontana spent his later years in San Juan, where he held various public and community offices. He died on October 18, 1920.


See also

* List of Governors of Chubut


References


Principal works

* 1881
''El Gran Chaco''
(The Gran Chaco), description of the geography, flora, and fauna of Northeast Argentina * 1883: ''Viaje de exploración al río Pilcomayo'' (Exploratory journey to the Pilcomayo river) * 1886: ''Estudio sobre el caballo fósil'' (Study of the fossil horse) * 1886
''Viaje de exploración a la Patagonia Austral''
(Exploratory journey to Southern Patagonia) * 1908: ''Enumeración sistemática de las aves'' (Systematic counting of birds) * 1912: ''Ad ovo'', essay on prehistoric themes


Further reading

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) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fontana, Luis Jorge 1846 births 1920 deaths Governors of Chubut Province Argentine Army officers Argentine explorers Argentine male writers