José de Acosta

José de Acosta (also Jose d' Acosta, * September / October 1539 (or 1540) in Medina del Campo, † February 15, 1599 or 1600 in Salamanca) was a Spanish Jesuit missionary and scholar. He became famous for his Historia natural y moral de las Indias, the oldest Overview of the New World and their relation to the ancients.

Life and work

Acosta came in 1570 in the Jesuit order and was the following year as a missionary in the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru, which included, inter alia, the present-day Andean countries of Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador. As religious superior ( county ) from 1576 to 1581 he took as a theological consultant at the Third Provincial Council of Lima in part in 1582 and later wrote a catechism in several local dialects, the first book ever to be printed in Peru.

Historia natural and De Indorum salute

After his return to Spain in 1587 he wrote the above-mentioned Historia natural (1590 ), in which he presented his observations to the physical geography and natural history of modern Mexico and Peru and the indigenous religious and political institutions in the context of the Jesuit scientific world view. Since he had spent more than 16 years in western South America and was an eyewitness, his observations are of particular interest.

He developed the theory that the American aborigines had to be migrated over a land bridge or only a narrow marine connection from Asia or other parts of the world; for He argued, according to the Bible, the Flood would have survived only a man and a few wild animals. Therefore, it is inconceivable that someone had brought the beasts with a ship to America. According to Acosta is America not completely cut off from the rest of the world, the Indians had not come across the Atlantic and also came not from the Jews, but rather saw the Tartars similar: they came, therefore, from Northeast Asia.

His reports, which were analyzed by Alexander von Humboldt, owes you also early knowledge of the crops in South America. He reports, for example on the potato culture in Peru, mentioning among other diseases of this crop. He describes this as " fire " and " mildew ". Presumably, this is the first message to Phytophthora.

Another important work of Acosta applies his treatise De promulgatione Gospel apud barbaros sive de procuranda Indorum salute from 1588, in which he systematically studied the problems of missionary work among the newly converted " pagans " of the New World.

Leader of the religious opposition, death

Acosta led to his order, the opposition to the then Jesuit General Claudio Acquaviva (1543-1615) to which elected at the age of 38 years in 1581 for the fifth General of the Order since its founding, a strict regiment led. His complaints and reform proposals have been rejected on the fifth Jesuit Congress, Acosta was imprisoned for two years ( 1592-1593 ). After his submission he was superior of the Jesuits of Valladolid and rector of the Jesuit College in Salamanca ( 1598 ), where he lived until his death.

Others

D' Acosta described by self-observation for the first time the altitude sickness, which is also called d' Acosta 's disease.

Works

• De promulgatione Gospel apud barbaros, Salamanca, 1588
• De natura novi orbis, Salamanca, 1589
• Historia moral y natural de las Indias, Sevilla 1591
• America, or how mans calleth to teutsch, the Newe World or West India, 1605
• The gold of the Condor, Stuttgart / Vienna 1991 ( includes only a portion of the book America, or ..., there is illustrated on page 138, a formulation for land bridge included that does not match the underlying German edition on page 229).