Fermín Tangüis

Fermín Tangüis
developer of the Tanguis cotton seed which saved Peru's cotton industry.
Born	March 29, 1851 San Juan, Puerto Rico
Died	August 24, 1930(1930-08-24) (aged 79) Lima, Peru

Fermín Tangüis (March 29, 1851 - August 24, 1930), was a Puerto Rican businessman, agriculturist and scientist who developed the seed that would eventually produce the Tanguis cotton in Peru and save that nation's cotton industry.

Tangüis' father, Henri Tangüis, emigrated from France to San Juan, Puerto Rico where he met and married a young Spanish Puerto Rican girl by the name of Justa Uncal. Tangüis was born in San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico, and there he received his primary and secondary education. Tangüis moved to Cuba to pursue a university degree; however when the Ten Years' War (1868–1878) broke out in that island, he decided that it would be best to move to South America.

He moved to Lima, Peru in 1873, when he was 22 years old and worked as a mercantile accountant. Tangüis went on to work in the mines of Castrovirreyna and later established his own businesses in Ayacucho and in Huancavelica. In July 1884, he married Isabel Novoa and in 1890, at the age of 39, he purchased land in Valle de Pisco and established a plantation dedicated to cultivation of cotton.

Sugar and cotton were the two most important agricultural products of Peru in the 19th century. In 1901, Peru's cotton industry suffered because of a fungus plague caused by a plant disease known some places as "cotton wilt" and in others as "Fusarium wilt" (Fusarium vasinfectum). The plant disease, which spread throughout Peru, enters the plant by its roots and works its way up the stem until the plant is completely dried up. Many of the agriculturists who dedicated themselves to the cultivation of cotton were ruined and the cotton industry in general was in crisis.

Tangüis began to study some species of the plant that were affected by the disease to a lesser extent and experimented in germination with the seeds of various cotton plants. In 1911, after 10 years of experimenting and failures, Tangüis was able to develop a seed which produced a superior cotton plant resistant to the disease. The seeds produced a plant that had a 40% longer (between 29 mm and 33 mm) and thicker fiber that did not break easily and required little water. The cotton grown in Peru (Egyptian cotton) before the fungus plague grew only once a year; the Tangüis cotton grows six times a year. This type of fiber showed a better resistance and performance than other fibers.