Manuel Nuñez Tovar ( Caicara de Maturín,

Monagas ) , anthem = '' Himno del Estado Monagas'' , image_map = Monagas in Venezuela.svg , map_alt = , map_caption = Location within Venezuela , pushpin_map = , pushpin_m ...

, September 24, 1872 –

Maracay ) , image_skyline = , image_caption =Top:Maracay Municipal Garden and Las Delicias area, Second: Sindoni Tower, Los Tamarindo residential area and overview to Maracay, Third:Maestranza Cesar Giron Bullring Stadium, Girardot Square and Maraca ...

Aragua Aragua State ( es, Estado Aragua, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. It is located in the north-central region of Venezuela. It has plains and jungles and Caribbean beaches. The most popular are Cata and Choroni. It has Venezuela's first n ...

, January 27, 1928) was a

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in ...

n naturalist, researcher, parasitologist and

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

. For his work in the latter discipline, he is considered to be the "first Venezuelan entomologist."Alegría, Ceferino. "Figuras médicas venezolanas 1". Caracas: Ediciones Pulmobronk, 1970.Rodríguez Campos, Manuel. Coordinador General). (1997): “Manuel Núñez Tovar ”. En: “Diccionario multimedia de historia de Venezuela”. Fundación Polar. Caracas – Venezuela.

Biography

Nuñez Tovar began his studies at Caicara and later continued in Maturin, where he graduated from high school at age 16. The first two years he studied medicine at the Federal College of Barcelona and finished the race at the

Central University of Venezuela The Central University of Venezuela ( Spanish: ''Universidad Central de Venezuela''; UCV) is a public university of Venezuela located in Caracas. It is widely held to be the highest ranking institution in the country, and it also ranks 18th in ...

in 1895. After graduating returned to Monagas state where he practiced and worked as a doctor of health in 1908. In 1909, with Cesar Flamerich and Rafael Nuñez Isava, he was part of the Public Health Commission, and that same year began his studies in

entomology Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

. In this discipline he studied the importance of insects in the transmission of disease, was the author of numerous papers, and identified ''

Necator americanus ''Necator americanus'' is a species of hookworm (a type of helminth) commonly known as the New World hookworm. Like other hookworms, it is a member of the phylum Nematoda. It is an obligatory parasitic nematode that lives in the small intestin ...

'' as the cause of anemia in patients who had suffered from malaria. After twenty years in Monagas state, Núñez Tovar lived temporarily in

Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...

and La Victoria, settling permanently in

after being appointed to the medical brigade in the garrison of the city. During this time he collected many animal species in the valleys of Aragua and around the Lake Valencia. Nuñez never left Venezuela, but scientists visited the country to personally meet the author of a voluminous body of scientific work including the discovery of several species of mosquitoes that carry his name. For his scientific work, a high school and University Hospital of Maturin were named in his honor and his entomology collection was acquired by the government of Venezuela. This is preserved in the Department of Malariology and Environmental Sanitation, Ministry of Health of Maracay. The mosquito '' Anopheles nuneztovari'' and the sandfly ''

Pintomyia nuneztovari ''Pintomyia nuneztovari'' is a phlebotomous sand fly in the subgenus ''Pifanomyia'' native to South America.Walter Reed Biosystematics Unit: ''Pintomyia'' (''Pif.'') ''nuneztovari'', SOUTHCOM Medically Important Arthropods, http://www.wrbu.org/s ...

'' were named to honor his contributions to entomological science.

Works

*Índice dipterológico de Venezuela: con la distribución geográfica por estados. Caracas: Litografía y Tipografía El Comercio, 1924. *Insectos venezolanos transmisores de enfermedades. Caracas: Litografía del Comercio, 1921. *Mosquitos y flebotomos de Venezuela. Caracas: Litografía y Tipografía del Comercio, 1924.

References

External links

Manuel Nuñez Tovar

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nunez Tovar, Manuel Venezuelan scientists People from Monagas 1872 births 1928 deaths Venezuelan public health doctors