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Tomás Joaquín de Acosta y Pérez de Guzmán (December 29, 1800February 21, 1852) was a Colombian explorer, historian, chorographer, and

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, althoug ...

. A native of Colombia in South America, he served in the Colombian army and in 1834 attempted a scientific survey of the territory between Socorro and the

Magdalena River The Magdalena River ( es, Río Magdalena, ; less commonly ) is the main river of Colombia, flowing northward about through the western half of the country. It takes its name from the biblical figure Mary Magdalene. It is navigable through much of ...

. Seven years later he explored western Colombia from Antioquia to Anserma studying its topography, its natural history and the traces of its aboriginal inhabitants. In 1845 he went to Spain to examine such documentary material concerning Colombia and its colonial history as was then accessible, and three years later he published his ''Compendio'', a work on the discovery and colonization of New Granada (Colombia). The map accompanying this work, now out of date, was very fair for the time, and the work itself is still valuable for its abundant bibliographic references and biographic notes. What he says in it of the writings of Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada the conqueror of New Granada, is very incomplete and in many ways erroneous, but his biographies remain a guide to the student of Spanish-American history. One year after the ''Compendio'', another work called ''Semenario'' appeared at

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, embodying the botanical papers of

Francisco José de Caldas Francisco José de Caldas (October 4, 1768 – October 28, 1816) was a Colombian lawyer, military engineer, self-taught naturalist, mathematician, geographer and inventor (he created the first hypsometer), who was executed by orders of Pabl ...

Personal life

He was the son of Josef Acosta and Soledad Pérez de Guzman and married Caroline Kemble Rowe. His daughter Soledad Acosta de Samper, born May 5, 1833, became a historian and writer and married José María Samper, Colombian lawyer, writer and politician.Tomas Joaquín Acosta Pérez
- Geni

Selected works

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References

External links

Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography, edited by James Grant Wilson, John Fiske and Stanley L. Klos. Six volumes, New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1887-1889
{{DEFAULTSORT:Acosta Perez, Joaquin 1799 births 1852 deaths People from Guaduas Colombian explorers Colombian geologists 19th-century Colombian historians Colombian military personnel Muisca scholars