Antonio de Ulloa

Lore & Background

Antonio de Ulloa was born in Seville, Spain, into a socially prominent and intellectually distinguished family. His father, Bernardo de Ulloa y Sousa, was noted for his writings on economics. At the age of thirteen, Ulloa embarked from Cádiz on the galleon San Luis, bound for Cartagena de Indias. After returning to Cádiz, he entered the Real Compañía de Guardias Marinas (the Spanish Naval Academy) in 1733 and soon sailed to Italy, where the Spanish navy was fighting to wrest control of Naples and Sicily from the Habsburg monarchy.

At the age of nineteen, Ulloa joined the French Geodesic Mission to the Equator, which established that the shape of the Earth is an oblate spheroid, flattened at the poles, as predicted by Isaac Newton. The mission took more than eight years to complete, during which time Ulloa, in close collaboration with his fellow naval officer Jorge Juan, made many astronomical, natural, and social observations in South America. Ulloa and Juan also helped to organize the defense of the Peruvian coast against the English squadron of Commodore Anson after the outbreak of the War of Jenkins' Ear in 1739. Ulloa published the first detailed observations of platinum, later identified as a new chemical element. He also reported a phenomenon later called 'Ulloa's halo' or 'Bouguer's halo,' similar to the Brocken spectre.

Ulloa returned to Europe in 1745. His ship was captured by the British Royal Navy, and he was taken to England as a prisoner of war. There, he was befriended by leading British scientists and was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society in 1746. He was also elected as a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1751. From 1758 to 1764, Ulloa served as governor of Huancavelica, in Peru, and as superintendent of the mercury mines of the region, where he fought unsuccessfully against corruption. Following the Seven Years' War, Ulloa became the first governor of Spanish Louisiana in 1766. His rule was strongly resisted by the French Creoles of New Orleans, who expelled him from the city during the Rebellion of 1768. Despite some controversies, Ulloa continued to serve in the Spanish Navy and ended his career as its chief of operations.

Reader's Guide

Antonio de Ulloa's significance lies in his dual role as a scientist and imperial administrator during the Spanish Enlightenment. As a young naval officer, he participated in the French Geodesic Mission to the Equator, which provided crucial empirical evidence that the Earth is an oblate spheroid, vindicating Newtonian mechanics over Cartesian physics. His detailed reports from South America, including the first European description of platinum, earned him an international reputation and election to the Royal Society of London and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Ulloa's later career as governor of Huancavelica and Spanish Louisiana illustrates the challenges of colonial administration, including his failed efforts to combat corruption in Peru and his expulsion from New Orleans by French Creoles in 1768. His legacy endures through his scientific contributions, particularly the discovery of platinum and the observation of atmospheric optical phenomena, as well as his published work Relación histórica del viaje a la América Meridional, which provided comprehensive descriptions of South America's geography, inhabitants, and natural history.

Did You Know?

• Ulloa published the first detailed observations of platinum, later identified as a new chemical element.
• He was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society of London in 1746 while a prisoner of war in England.
• Ulloa observed a phenomenon later called 'Ulloa's halo' or 'Bouguer's halo,' where each person saw a halo only around the shadow of their own head.
• He served as the first governor of Spanish Louisiana in 1766 but was expelled by French Creoles during the Rebellion of 1768.