Agustín Ibáñez y Bojons
Agustín Ibáñez y Bojons | |
|---|---|
| Born | September, 1771 Gondomar, Spain |
| Died | May, 1805 Ceuta, Spain |
| Allegiance | Spanish Empire |
| Branch | Spanish Army |
| Years of service | c. 1790–1805 |
| Rank | Lieutenant colonel |
| Known for | Cartographic work in the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata |
Agustín Ibáñez y Bojons (also spelled Bofons and Matamoros)[1] (San Miguel de Peitieiros, Gondomar, Pontevedra; September 1771 – Ceuta; May 1805)[2] was a Spanish military officer, engineer, and cartographer who reached the rank of lieutenant colonel. He served in the Spanish Army and died in Ceuta while still in service. He was the author of several maps, mainly of South America,[3] which are kept in the Archivo General de Indias[4] and the Biblioteca Nacional de España. Among his works are various maps of different sites in the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata at the end of the 18th century, such as the port of Montevideo, coastal areas, and boundary demarcations between Spanish and Portuguese territories.[5][6][7]
Biography
Born in the parish of San Miguel de Peiteiros (Diocese of Tui, Pontevedra) in September 1771, he joined the Spanish Army. He served for several decades, reaching the rank of captain and later lieutenant colonel.
Ibáñez was appointed engineer in charge of the fortification of Montevideo in the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata by royal decree dated 29 March 1794,[1] in response to Portuguese advances.[8]
In 1800, Ibáñez created a map of South America that displays borders similar to those in the 1775 map by Juan de la Cruz Cano y Olmedilla,[9] with the notable difference that the Atlantic boundary of the Kingdom of Chile is drawn closer to the 36th parallel south rather than the 38th.[10] The description, reproduced in the 1942 volume *Monumenta Chartographica Indiana* by Julio Guillén Tato, prepared for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Spain), states that the map contains the "limits of the Viceroyalty of Buenos Aires," and the map itself includes the label "Fronteras de Buenos Ayres":
In the southeast, a circular cartouche includes an explanation, key, and notes. [...] as agreed for the better performance of land and sea reconnaissance carried out by the creator of the map in the year 1800 by order of the authorities. This is a copy. It contains the borders of the Viceroyalty of Buenos Aires, from which it likely originates, and includes a note regarding the boundaries of Spain and Portugal, such as: From the port of Maldonado to the Rio Grande de San Pedro was surveyed by the geographers of the boundary demarcation between the Crowns of Spain and Portugal, which began at the Arroyo de Chuy in the year 1780. It spans from the Equator to 57°S and from 23°30E to 24°30W from Buenos Aires. The same Royal Geographical Society of Madrid possessed another map which, although lacking the refined washes, was most likely the original; it was signed by Ibáñez and was identical in size and content. The Society also possessed the map by Millau of South America (17..), cited by Fernández Duro in *Disquisiciones Náuticas*, which largely served as a basis for the map by Cruz Cano described earlier.[11]
The map was sent in 1802 to Secretary of State José de Urruña by Martínez de Cáceres, and in 1804, Ibáñez himself forwarded it to the Spanish Government along with a plan of operations to reclaim territories occupied by the Portuguese.[10]
He died in May 1805 in Ceuta while on active military duty, at the age of 33.[2]
References
- ^ a b Cano Révora, María Gloria (1994). Cádiz y el Real Cuerpo de Ingenieros Militares (1697–1847). Utilidad y firmeza (in Spanish). Universidad de Cádiz. p. 274.
- ^ a b "Agustín Ibáñez y Bojons". Historia Hispánica – Real Academia de la Historia.
- ^ "[Carta Geogca. de America Meridional en 4 hojas / por el Yngenº Dn. Agustin Yvañez]". Biblioteca Nacional de España. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
- ^ Martínez Martín, Carmen (1998). "Una «carta esférica» del aragonés D. Félix de Azara, levantada en los primeros años de su estancia en la Provincia del Paraguay" (PDF). Americanistas (in Spanish).
Notable is the report on the defense of the frontier with Brazil prepared by Agustín Ibáñez Bojons, of which two maps are held in the Archivo General de Indias (AGI).
- ^ "Persona – Ibáñez Bojons, Agustín (ingeniero militar)". PARES. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
- ^ Bachiller Cabria, Juan Vicente. "Cartografía manuscrita de Brasil en las colecciones españolas (1500–1822)" (PDF). Universidad de Salamanca. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
- ^ García López, María Belén. "La colonización portuguesa de Brasil". Tabularium Edit. 1 (4): 28–64. ISSN 2341-4863.
- ^ Martínez Martín, Carmen (1997). "Aportaciones cartográficas de D. Félix de Azara sobre el Virreinato del Río de la Plata". Revista Complutense de Historia de América. 23: 187.
Most of these features suggest it could be by Azara, as the title indicates, or a copy from one of his works, although unfinished. Given that a signature by Ibáñez appears behind it, it raises the possibility that it was a copy made by Agustín de Ibáñez y Bojons, the engineer appointed for the fortification of Montevideo, who may have used it in the maps he prepared for his 1794 reports on the Portuguese frontier.
- ^ a b Garay Vera, Cristian Eduardo (2024). "Raúl Bazán Dávila, diplomático y nacionalista. Sus tesis sobre el Reino de Chile, límites y Argentina" (PDF). Historia & Guerra (in Spanish). 6: 27–44. ISSN 2796-8650.
- ^ a b c Bazán Dávila, Raúl (1986). El patrimonio territorial que recibimos del Reino de Chile (in Spanish). Instituto de Investigaciones del Patrimonio Territorial de Chile. p. 400.
- ^ a b Guillén Tato, Julio (1942). Monumenta Chartographica Indiana (in Spanish). Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Spain. p. 20.