Eduardo Holmberg

Eduardo Ladislao Holmberg (27 July 1852 in Buenos Aires – 4 November 1937) was an Argentine natural historian and novelist, one of the leading figures in Argentine biology. Together with Florentino Ameghino he undertook the inventory of Argentine flora and fauna, and explored all the ecoregions in the country, summarizing for the first time the biodiversity of its territory. The son of botanical aficionado and grandson of the Baron Holmberg, Holmburg accompanied Argentine Libertador Manuel Belgrano on his campaigns and introduced the cultivation of the camellia to Argentina. As director of the Buenos Aires Zoological Garden he greatly developed its scientific aspect, publishing booklets and providing printed media for a learned appreciation of its contents. He also directed the Natural History Cabinet of the University of Buenos Aires and published the standard reference works on botany and zoology used in his country for most of the 20th century. While less distinguished for his writing, he was arguably the first science fiction writer in Latin America. He wrote the first science fiction novel, "Viaje maravilloso del señor Nic-Nac al planeta Marte" (Eng. "The Marvellous Journey of Mr. Nic-Nac to the Planet Mars"). In 1879, he wrote "Horacio Kalibang o los autómatas" (Eng. "Horacio Kalibang or The Automatons"), the first short science fiction story of Latin America.

Coming from a European Bourgeois family, Holmberg had mastered English, French, and German by the time he became Faculty of Medicine of the University of Buenos Aires. He had grown up in close contact with his father's gardens and extensive literature collection, gaining a life-long interest in botany and entomology. He quickly learned Latin as well, an essential for scientific studies at the time.

He became a doctor in 1880 with a thesis on phosphene, however he never practiced the profession. Despite the low standing of natural history at the time, Holmberg had studied the science for nearly a decade at the time of his graduation, beginning with the documentation of native flora and fauna in his study Travels in Patagonia, 1872 (Es. Viajes por la Patagonia, 1872). From 1874 onward he dedicated himself to the study of arachnids, publishing several studies over the next decade and laying a foundation for the study of the arthropods in the country. That very same year he married the young Magdalena Jorge, a fashionable lady of Buenos Aires society. He was published in the Annals of Argentine Agriculture (Es. Anales de la Agricultura Argentina) and the Zoological Periodical (Es. Periódico Zoológico), two of the most important scientific publications of the era, describing species and investigation the effects of agricultural activities on the natural world.

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