Juan Ignacio Molina
| Juan Ignacio Molina | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
June 24, 1740 Guaraculén, now Chile |
| Died | September 12, 1829 (aged 89) Bologna, now Italy |
Fr. Juan Ignacio Molina (June 24, 1740 – September 12, 1829) was a Spanish later Chilean Jesuit priest, naturalist, historian, botanist, ornithologist and geographer. He is usually referred to as Abate Molina (form of Abbott Molina), and is also sometimes known by the Italian form of his name, Giovanni Ignazio Molina.
Molina was born at Guaraculén a big farm located near Villa Alegre (General Captaincy of Chile), in the current province of Linares, in the Maule Region of Chile. His parents were Agustín Molina and Francisca González Bruna.
He was educated at Talca and the Jesuit College at Concepción. He was forced to leave Chile in 1768 when the Jesuits were expelled from the Spanish Empire. He settled in Bologna and became professor of natural sciences there. He wrote Saggio sulla Storia Naturale del Chili (1782), which was the first account of the natural history of that country, and described many species to science for the first time.
As a scientist native to the Americas Molina was very critical of the work Cornelius de Pauw who was in Europe regarded an expert on the Americas and accused him of "always attempting to degrade and discredit the Americas". Some of Pauw's statements on the supposedly poor aspects of the mineral wealth of the Americas were countered by Molina as well as Pauw's claims on the shorter lives of people that inhabited the Americas.
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