The Canary Islands Orotava Foundation for the History of Science (FUNDORO), in collaboration with the Cabildo of Lanzarote, the Biosphere Reserve, the Teguise City Council, and the Autonomous National Parks Organization, has organized a cultural program to celebrate the 220th anniversary of the landing carried out in La Graciosa in 1799 by Alexander von Humboldt, a naturalist, giant of the history of science, and considered the father of modern universal geography, along with Aimé Jacques Alexandre Goujaud Bonpland, also a naturalist, doctor, and French botanist.
The program of activities, which will take place on June 14, 15, and 16 on the eighth island, will include talks, lectures on cartography, interpretive panels, an exhibition, and a musical recital by the Lanzarote timple player Benito Cabrera and his quartet. There will also be expeditions on land to learn about the vegetation and by boat to recreate the journey and the events that Humboldt and Bonpland carried out in 1799 aboard the Frigate 'Pizarro', as well as a theatrical representation of the landing of both in La Graciosa.
The events are open to all interested public and will feature the participation of leading experts in different disciplines who, during these three days of next June, will try to bring the history and the events of the first landing in non-continental territory of the war frigate 'Pizarro' closer.
"Reinforce the place that La Graciosa deserves to have in the history of science"
The president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Pedro San Ginés, congratulated the Canary Islands Orotava Foundation for the History of Science for the organization of this meeting, hoping that "the dissemination and knowledge of these events will contribute to reinforcing the place that La Graciosa, as the eighth Canary Island, also deserves to have in the history of science".
For his part, the director of the Canary Islands Orotava Foundation for the History of Science, Miguel Ángel González Expósito, thanked the Cabildo of Lanzarote and its Biosphere Reserve "for the support offered to this three-day meeting that will try to highlight the relationship of this important giant of science with La Graciosa". A story about what made him stop there that "deserves to be told", he emphasized.
González Expósito also thanked the support of the Teguise City Council and the Autonomous Organization of Natural Parks, and especially highlighted the involvement of the Teguise councilor in La Graciosa, Alicia Páez, and the Minister of the Presidency of the first Island Corporation, Luis Arráez Guadalupe, for the "support provided since the Foundation presented the project to both, during the first months of last year in which the initiative to commemorate this event began to take shape".
Subsequently, as explained by the Cabildo, the Biosphere Reserve, directed by Rafael Juan González Robayna, took over, with the prior organization of a specific conference on the humanist, geographer and explorer Alexander von Humboldt and his holistic vision of nature in the Canarian-American journey, within the 'Let's Talk About the Biosphere Conference Cycle', which served as a prologue to this meeting that will be held in La Graciosa in June and can be viewed on the website of the Biosphere Reserve.
On behalf of the Teguise City Council, the Councilor for Culture Olivia Duque, who excused Alicia Páez during the presentation of the meeting, also joined in the congratulations for the initiative and highlighted several events of the program such as the talks, the performance of the timple player Benito Cabrera and his quartet, and the theatrical work that will stage Humboldt's landing in Pedro Barba.
Program
The director of the Canary Islands Orotava Foundation for the History of Science detailed some relevant data of who is "considered the Father of Biogeography" and reported that "the name of Humboldt has been traditionally related to the Canary Islands through his visit to Tenerife, the ascent to Teide and the establishment of the famous vegetation floors that stratified the plant species according to the environmental conditions that varied with altitude above sea level. Much less known is the fact that the illustrious German naturalist set foot on non-continental European soil for the first time when he landed in the northeast area of the island of La Graciosa".
Some facts that will be valued thanks to a complete program that includes in its first day, which will be carried out on June 14, the inaugural conference by Agustín Guimerá Ravina on 'Humboldt and the landing in La Graciosa' and an exhibition that will be inaugurated during this meeting in Caleta de Sebo and that will later be transferred to the Cabildo of Lanzarote to be exhibited in other public places. June 14 will conclude with a recital of Canarian music by the timple player Benito Cabrera and his quartet.
The Meeting will continue on Saturday, June 15, with a didactic excursion by Arnoldo Santos Guerra to Barranco de Los Conejos and Pedro Barba, where an explanation will be offered on the plant species and biodiversity that Humboldt found in this island territory.
Already in Pedro Barba, that same Saturday, June 15, at 12:30 hours, Humboldt's landing will be staged by a professional theater company. In the afternoon, at 5:00 p.m., interpretive tables of the Autonomous Organization of Natural Parks will be inaugurated on Las Conchas Beach and the day will conclude with an interesting didactic talk on cartography, which will be offered by the expert Juan Antonio García Cruz who will explain the reasons why Humboldt arrived in La Graciosa and thought it was an extension of Lanzarote, according to the navigation charts.
The meeting will end on Sunday, June 16, with a didactic boat trip that will recreate the scientist's arrival to this Canary Island.Those interested in participating in the complete program and traveling and staying in La Graciosa that weekend, should contact the organization of the Meeting through the Canary Islands Orotava Foundation for the History of Science at the telephone number 922 322 862 or on its website.
