Mariano Lagasca

Mariano la Gasca y Segura (1776-1839) was a Spanish botanist, writer and doctor. He was the director of Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid.

Early life

Mariano la Gasca y Segura was born in Zaragoza, in Spain on October 4, 1776 to a wealthy Catholic family. He studied at the local elementary school and afterwards he continued his ecclesiastical studies in Tarragona. During his studies in Tarragona he developed an interest for medicine and botany. After finishing his studies in Tarragona, he started travelling until eventually studying medicine at first in Zaragoza, and later in Valencia and Madrid.^[1]

Career

In 1800 he moved to Madrid where he met Antonio José Cavanilles, a well-known botanist and doctor and became his disciple. In Madrid he cooperated in various fields José Demetrio Rodriguez, and co-published with him a botanical book titled Description of certain plants of the Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid (Spanish: 'Descripción de algunas plantas del Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid') in 1801.^[1]

In 1802 he co-published with Simón de Rojas Clemente y Rubioa volume of articles regarding medicine and botany. After the death of José Cavanilles in 1807, he was appointed to the position of the vice-director of the Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid. During that period he was also working as a professor of Botany at the university of Madrid.^[1]

In 1815 after the Peninsular War, he was appointed to the position of the director of the Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid. In the following years he would become well-known in Spain, because of his work at that position. In 1823 he was exiled from Spain because of his liberal political views. He spent the following eleven years in London, until his return to Spain in 1834 where he regained his position as a director of the Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid. He died five years later on June 23, 1839 in Barcelona.^[1]

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