Alessandro Malaspina
Alessandro Malaspina (1754–1810) was an Italian explorer and brigadier in the Spanish Royal Navy, notable for his significant scientific contributions during an extensive expedition across the Spanish Empire. His journey, which took place from 1789 to 1794, involved sailing around Cape Horn and along the coasts of South America, reaching as far north as Alaska and extending to the South Pacific. Malaspina embarked on this expedition with a team of scientists, including zoologists, botanists, and ethnographers, aiming to study the natural resources and cultures of the regions under Spanish control. His thorough documentation included the collection of botanical specimens, ethnographic records, and updated maps, marking a pioneering effort in scientific exploration.
Despite his profound contributions, Malaspina faced political challenges upon returning to Spain. His criticism of the Spanish monarchy led to accusations of sedition, resulting in a ten-year imprisonment that stifled further scientific advancements associated with his work. Although much of his research remained obscure for years, it gained recognition in the late 20th century, highlighting the value of his records and collections. Today, Malaspina’s legacy is commemorated through geographic features named in his honor, and his expeditions are regarded as significant milestones in the field of exploration and scientific study.
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Subject Terms
Alessandro Malaspina
Italian explorer and sailor
- Born: November 5, 1754
- Birthplace: Mulazzo, Italy
- Died: April 9, 1810
- Place of death: Pontremoli, Italy
Education: Pio Clementino School
Significance: Was the first Italian explorer to provide extensive scientific documentation of his Spanish expedition around Cape Horn.
Background
As an eighteenth century Italian explorer, Alessandro Malaspina was not as famous as Captain Cook or the other celebrated explorers, but he made significant contributions in scientific documentation of the regions in which he travelled. He became known for his Spanish expedition—an expedition rich in scientific information—around Cape Horn across the western shores of the Americas. The expedition extended all the way to Alaska and then onwards to the South Pacific before returning back to Cadiz, Spain.
Alessandro Malaspina was born in a noble Italian family to Carlo Morela Malaspina, a nobleman of Mulazzo, Italy, and Caterina Meli Lupi de Soragna, the niece of Sicilian viceroy Giovanni Fogliani Sforza. Malaspina spent most of his childhood in Palermo, Italy and moved to Rome in 1765 to complete his education. In 1773, he learnt navigation and soon became a part of the Order of Malta. The following year he joined the Spanish Royal Naval Academy as a midshipman. While with the Spanish Navy, he was part of multiple missions like the sieges of Melilla and Alger on the Mediterranean Sea and gradually was promoted and took part in more dangerous expeditions, including the Spanish attack of the British at Gibraltar in 1780.
Around the same time, Britain and Spain were engaging resources in scientific explorations and documentation to maximize the benefits of colonial expansion. Taking up the opportunity, Malaspina proposed the Spanish monarchy allow him on an expedition of the entire Spanish empire to study the availability of natural resources and make ethnographic and zoological records of the regions under Spanish rule.
Life’s Work
In 1789, Malaspina, along with Spanish explorer José de Bustamante y Guerra, set sail with two frigates called Atrevida and Descubierta for a five-year expedition to explore Spanish colonies along the South American coast, sailing around Cape Horn all the way to the Mexican coast and back. Malaspina, like his peers, also intended to find the Northwest Passage, a shorter route to Atlantic Ocean through Northern Canada. But he was not very successful. The two ships sailed together for fifty-two days before separating near the Mexican coast. He embarked on the journey with a battery of zoologists, botanists, ethnographers, cartographers, and astronomers to perform detailed scientific explorations of the regions visited during the expedition.
Wherever Malaspina went, he made alliances with the natives, to gain access to the area and information about the people, their habits and culture. For example, on his search for the Northwest Passage, when he reached Vancouver Island he signed a treaty of friendship with the locals to seek help in finding the passage. He followed a similar strategy and undertook detailed scientific explorations in Marshall Islands, Marianas, Philippines, Macao, New Zealand, and Australia before returning to Cadiz, Spain. In Southern Argentina, Malaspina had his first interaction with the natives. Malaspina was so diligent about recording the ethnographic details that he asked his men to keep an account of the vocabulary of the forty men who came to interrogate his team.
No explorer before Malaspina had been able to conduct a scientific study of this scale for any geographical region. The cartographers, botanists and other scientists who returned with Malaspina brought with them updated maps, sketches, botanical samples and knowledge about the vast mineral resources in the region in the form of numerous journals, diaries, notebooks of hydrographic and astronomical data, nautical charts, topographical views, hundreds of botanical, zoological, and ethnographic drawings, tribal artifacts, and over 10,000 plant specimens. Malaspina’s biologists were the first to collect samples of Californian redwood, the world’s tallest trees. Malaspina was known for giving a free hand to his scientists in their research and methods of data collection.
In spite of the enormous contribution that Malaspina made to the kingdom of Spain in terms of scientific knowledge of the resources of the region, he fell prey to political games. Immediately on arrival, Malaspina was received with great fanfare by King Charles IV and he was made a sergeant soon after. On seeing the attention and respect he received, Malaspina deemed it fit to speak his mind. In a confidential report Malaspina criticized the Spanish king for not granting enough religious and administrative freedom to the colonies. He also demanded a reorganization of the religious administration, which, in his opinion, had become corrupt. Malaspina’s idealism came to be misconstrued as sedition and Charles IV’s prime minister, Manuel Godoy, accused Malaspina of scheming against the crown. Malaspina was put in prison for ten years and the scientific work occurring under his patronage came to a standstill.
Impact
Much of the scientific work remained in obscurity due to his imprisonment and lack of patronage from the kingdom. The studies came to light only in the last two decades of the twentieth century, by which time most of the findings had lost their timeliness. His personal journal was published by the Hakluyt Society in three volumes in English, discussing his voyage in three parts. This has been one of the most important sources of information on the detailed ethnographic and botanical studies carried out by Malaspina and his men. The sketches and diaries kept by Malaspina and his men of their interactions with the indigenous people in places such as Patagonia, Chiloe, Vancouver Island, Tongan Island, and Yakutat Bay, are some of the only remaining authentic records of those cultures before they were touched by western influence.
The legacy of his name is kept alive by a glacier named after him in Alaska and Malaspina Strait and Malaspina Peninsula in British Columbia, named by Captain George Henry Richards in 1859 in honor of Malaspina’s visit to the coast of British Columbia. Malaspina’s work gained popularity after the 200-year anniversary of his voyage. Since then, the artifacts, samples, and reports of the expedition have been widely exhibited and discussed.
Personal Life
In 1795, Malaspina was sent to prison for ten years on sedition charges. In prison, he spent time writing essays on subjects of economics and aesthetics, one of which was called "Philosophical Meditation on the Existence of an Essential and Invariable Beauty in Nature." In 1802, Malaspina was exiled to Italy, where he got involved in political matters of the kingdom. Three years later, he became the member of the Council of State in Italy, started by Napoleon Bonaparte. Bonaparte was also responsible for his release from Spanish prison. Five years later, Malaspina died at Pontremoli, near his birthplace.
Bibliography
"Alessandro Malaspina." I Malaspina. Assoc. I Malaspiniani, n.d. Web. 6 Feb. 2016. <http://www.imalaspina.com/en/great-figures/article/alessandro-malaspina.html>.
Malaspina, Alessandro. The Malaspina Expedition, 1789–1794: Journal of the Voyage by Alejandro Malaspina. Vol. I: Cadiz to Panama. Eds. Andrew David et al. London: Hakluyt Society, 2001. Print.
Malaspina, Alessandro. The Malaspina Expedition, 1789–1794: Journal of the Voyage by Alejandro Malaspina. Vol. II: Panama to the Philippines. Eds. Andrew David et al. London: Hakluyt Society, 2003. Print.
Malaspina, Alessandro. The Malaspina Expedition, 1789-1794. Journal of the Voyage. Vol. III. Manila to Cadiz. Trans. Sylvia Jamieson. Eds. Andrew David et al. London: Hakluyt Society, 2004. Print.
Werner, Louis. "Forgotten Voyage." Americas. Eng. ed. Sept.–Oct. 2008. Questia. Web. 03 Feb. 2016. <https://www.questia.com/magazine/1G1-185165922/forgotten-voyage-you-may-not-find-his-name-on-the>.