Fermín Vivaceta Rupio (January 12, 1829 – February 21, 1890) was a Chilean

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

and

firefighter A firefighter (or fire fighter or fireman) is a first responder trained in specific emergency response such as firefighting, primarily to control and extinguish fires and respond to emergencies such as hazardous material incidents, medical in ...

Life

Vivaceta was born in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

on January 12, 1829. He was the son of Fermín Vivaceta, an

Argentinean Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

citizen residing in

, and Juana Rupio. He was from a working-class family. From the age of thirteen, he was employed as an apprentice in a furniture factory during the day, while studying at night. In 1846, he attended Instituto Nacional to study drawing, a course that was arranged by the government of

Manuel Bulnes Manuel Bulnes Prieto (; December 25, 1799 – October 18, 1866) was a Chilean military and political figure who was President of Chile from 1841 to 1851. Born in Concepción, he served as the president of Chile between 1841 and 1851. At the ...

to train workers in industrial drawing. He also studied

geometry Geometry (; ) is a branch of mathematics concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. Geometry is, along with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. A mathematician w ...

and general

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

. In 1850, he was one of the first students of the ''Academia de Bellas Artes'' and became an architect. His architectural work was influenced by his mentor, the French architect François Brunet de Baines, who was also his partner in various of his works. He received commissions to design important buildings, including the Casa Central de la Universidad de Chile, the bell tower of the Iglesia de San Francisco, the seats of the Alameda de las Delicias, the

Mercado Central de Santiago The Mercado Central de Santiago is the central market of Santiago de Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital city, capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is loca ...

, the Iglesia de los Doce Apóstoles in Valparaíso and the Fuerte Bueras. According to various experts, his best work was the towers of the Iglesia San Agustín. Fermin_Vivaceta

In 1858, he went on to be a member of the board of directors of the Sociedad de Instrucción Pública. Álvaro Covarrubias,

Domingo Santa María Domingo Santa María González (; August 4, 1825 – July 18, 1889) was a Chilean political figure. He served as the president of Chile between 1881 and 1886. Early life He was born in Santiago, Chile, Santiago, the son of Luis José Santa Ma ...

and

Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna (August 25, 1831 – January 25, 1886) was a Chilean writer, journalist, historian and politician. Vicuña Mackenna was of Irish and Basque descent. Biography Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna was born in Santiago, the ...

were also members of the board. His major achievement as a member of that board was the construction and development of evening schools for the education of workers, in which he also served as a teacher and inspector. In 1865, during the

Chincha Islands War The Chincha Islands War, also known as Spanish–South American War (), was a series of coastal and naval battles between Spain and its former colonies of Peru, Chile, Ecuador, and Bolivia from 1865 to 1879. The conflict began with Spain's seiz ...

, he moved to

Valparaíso Valparaíso () is a major city, Communes of Chile, commune, Port, seaport, and naval base facility in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. Valparaíso was originally named after Valparaíso de Arriba, in Castilla–La Mancha, Castile-La Mancha, Spain ...

to serve as a volunteer firefighter for the city, living there for the rest of his life. Some years later, he become part of the Sociedad de Artesanos de Valparaíso and, in January 1877, along with 48 associates, founded the Sociedad de Trabajadores, created to eradicate tenements in the city and build decent houses for low-income workers. Despite his moderate political participation, he supported the Liberal candidatures of

, José Tomás Urmeneta and

. In 1882, Vivaceta suffered a severe

paralysis Paralysis (: paralyses; also known as plegia) is a loss of Motor skill, motor function in one or more Skeletal muscle, muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory d ...

, losing sensitivity on the left side of his body. He remained in bad health until his death occurred on February 21, 1890.

Homages

The former Camino de Los Hornillos, in the northern part of Santiago, was renamed as the Avenida Fermín Vivaceta. On October 3, 1953, a monument was erected on that avenue, which was later relocated to the intersection of the Alameda and Diagonal Paraguay.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vivaceta, Fermin Chilean schoolteachers Chilean architects Artists from Santiago, Chile Chilean people of Argentine descent 1829 births 1890 deaths