Lorenzo de Arrau (1735–1781) was a Spanish military engineer who served in
Chile during the second half of the 18th century.
Biography
Arrau ( ca, Llorenç d'Arrau) was born in
Barcelona in 1735.
He was sent to the
Spanish colony of Chile by King
Carlos III to work as a military engineer.
De Arrau arrived in Chile in 1763, accompanying Juan Garland and
Ambrosio O'Higgins (future Marquis of Osorno and Viceroy of Perú and father of
Bernardo O'Higgins, the father of the Chilean independence). He served in
Valdivia in 1764, and in
Santiago where he established an
arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
for the manufacture of
cannons.
He married Isabel de Santa María Escobedo y Baeza, and they had six children: Juan (single), Pedro Juan (a down-to-earth rancher and an ancestor of pianist
Claudio Arrau), Clara, Juana, Cruz, and Manuela Bárbara (nun).
He died in 1781 in
Chillán
Chillán () is the capital city of the Ñuble Region in the Diguillín Province of Chile located about south of the country's capital, Santiago, near the geographical center of the country. It is the capital of the new Ñuble Region since 6 Sept ...
, Chile.
His son Pedro Juan de Arrau y Santa Maria married Carmen Darroch del Solar, a descendant of Reverend John Darroch (who descended from the Campbells of Craignish, Scotland) and his wife Elspeth Campbell (of the Campbells of Glenorchy, Scotland).
Lorenzo de Arrau y Alguer-Suari belonged to a family of painters and artists from Barcelona famous since the 17th century. The origins of the Arraus can be found in
Barcelona and, further, in
France. One of his descendants is the Chilean pianist
Claudio Arrau.
Citations and sources
Citations
Sources
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1735 births
1781 deaths
18th-century Chilean people
Spanish military engineers
Spanish engineers
Engineers from Catalonia
Chilean engineers
Spanish emigrants to Chile
{{Chile-engineer-stub