Ricardo Armbruster
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Ricardo Armbruster Blecher, alias Nano (
Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
, 1944 –
Ribadesella Ribadesella (Asturian: Ribeseya) is a small municipality in the Autonomous Community of the Principality of Asturias, Spain. Known for its location on the Cantabrian Sea, at the outlet of the River Sella, Ribadesella is a town that forms part ...
, 1976) was a Spanish ecologist, adventurer and entrepreneur.


Biography

He was born in
Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
to the German/Spanish family Armbruster/Blecher. His father Eugen Armbruster was a successful industrialist in Spain (tubes, plastics, metals, energy, banks, forests) and his mother, Trude Armbruster (
née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Blecher) was a renowned violinist. At an early age, Ricardo Armbruster and his family discovered that schooling and academic life were not going to be his preferred way of advancing personally. He developed a wide interest in animals and nature in the 1950s, spending long periods at the family farm in Camorritos,
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
, and becoming a respected naturalist at a very early stage. Soon afterwards, at the age of 17, he decided to travel and learn. He spent some time at several academies and jobs in
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
and
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, before returning to Madrid and, from there, to the American continent. First, he traveled around the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
with his brother and friends, before accepting a job at a bookstore in
Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...
,
Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
. After feeling frustrated by the fact that the store sold books by length for decoration rather than for reading, he felt the call of the wild, embarked on a trip to the south and disappeared in the
Amazon rainforest The Amazon rainforest, Amazon jungle or ; es, Selva amazónica, , or usually ; french: Forêt amazonienne; nl, Amazoneregenwoud. In English, the names are sometimes capitalized further, as Amazon Rainforest, Amazon Forest, or Amazon Jungle. ...
. Some time later Ricardo Armbruster reappeared in
Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...
, on the
Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...
. He had made a living by hunting in the forest, making research films, helping national armies explore new territories and, in the end, smuggling coffee to pay for a ship fare back to Europe. Back in Spain, Ricardo Armbruster settled down, married Erika Born, another German/Spanish national, and had two children: Yaukuma (named after a
Mehinaku The Mehinaku, Mehináko or Mehinacu are an indigenous people of Brazil. They live in the Indigenous Park of the Xingu, located around the headwaters of the Xingu River in Mato Grosso. They currently reside in area around the Tuatuari and Kuris ...
Indian of the
Xingú River The Xingu River ( ; pt, Rio Xingu, ; Mẽbêngôkre: ''Byti'', ) is a river in north Brazil. It is a southeast tributary of the Amazon River and one of the largest clearwater rivers in the Amazon basin, accounting for about 5% of its water. ...
Basin) and Thurit Armbruster. The couple moved to
Valladolid Valladolid () is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province o ...
, in the north of Spain, where Ricardo Armbruster became a successful entrepreneur but was mostly recognized for his activist ecologism and political positioning (against the
Spanish State Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spani ...
of caudillo
Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...
). Ricardo Armbruster was, together with Erika Born, Carlos Carrasco, José Gimeno an
Rafael Álvarez-Taladriz
one of the driving forces behind the creation of the AEORMA ecologist group (Asociación Española para la Ordenación del Medio Ambiente), a strictly forbidden activity under the
Francoist State Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...
. He was also, with
Julio Valdeón Baruque Julio Valdeón Baruque ( Olmedo, Province of Valladolid, 21 July 1936 - Valladolid, 21 June 2009) was a historian of Spain. Life and career He studied at the University of Valladolid, earning a degree in History, and subsequently earning a PhD. En ...
, José Luis Martín Rodríguez, José Luis Barrigón, Carlos Santamaría, Carlos Carrasco, Manuel Conde and others, the driving force behind the creation of the Instituto Regional Castellano-Leonés, an autonomy-enhancing entity that was also subject to severe persecution by Franco's authorities. Erika and Ricardo Armbruster's home in the Castillian countryside ( La Corala) soon became a preferred stop for zoologists and naturalists in the early 1970s, who brought over every kind of fauna to be treated and cured, among them the famous naturalist Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente. This made the premises look more like a zoo than a private home. The property also became a hot spot for debates about democracy and ecology among Spanish intellectuals, artists and oligarchs who appreciated Armbruster's views on these subjects. A rebel
Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
(he married under scrutiny and press coverage following the
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
and
Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
rituals at a time of National Catholicism in Spain), Ricardo Armbruster died on Easter Sunday in April 1976, at the age of 32, in
Ribadesella Ribadesella (Asturian: Ribeseya) is a small municipality in the Autonomous Community of the Principality of Asturias, Spain. Known for its location on the Cantabrian Sea, at the outlet of the River Sella, Ribadesella is a town that forms part ...
, Asturias (Spain), while scuba diving in search of eels and other sea species in the cold waters of the Cantabrian Sea.<
El Norte de Castilla ''El Norte de Castilla'' ("The North of Castile") is a Spanish-language daily newspaper based in Valladolid, Spain. After ''Faro de Vigo'', founded in 1853, ''El Norte de Castilla'' is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the country, tracing its ...
>


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Armbruster, Ricardo 1944 births 1976 deaths Businesspeople from Madrid 20th-century Spanish businesspeople Spanish Christians Spanish ecologists Sport deaths in Spain Underwater diving deaths