The Economic, Scientific, and Artistic Impact of the 1901-1906 French Geodesic Mission to Ecuador

FAIN: FB-57289-13

Ernesto B. Capello
Macalester College (St. Paul, MN 55105-1899)

This fellowship will support the crafting of a book manuscript concerning the Second French Geodesic Mission to Ecuador (1901-1906). While the mission’s measurement of the arc of the equatorial meridian had important scientific implications, my book focuses on the social, artistic, and economic ramifications of the journey. Using underexplored French, American, and Ecuadorian archival sources, I examine the development of a monumental and visual culture inspired by the process of terrestrial triangulation itself. My research also emphasizes the contested nature of this process by considering the contemporary challenges to this process by Catholic intellectuals and indigenous communities. Finally, I trace the development of this commemorative landscape over the course of the twentieth century, including not only the development of an extensive equatorial tourist trade but also the creation of counter-monuments by indigenous and socialist activists.

Associated Products

From imperial pyramids to anticolonial sundials: commemorating and contesting French geodesy in Ecuador (Article)
Title: From imperial pyramids to anticolonial sundials: commemorating and contesting French geodesy in Ecuador
Author: Ernesto Capello
Abstract: This article considers the marking of the Andean equatorial zone through the construction, destruction and reconstruction of pyramids and obelisks celebrating the eighteenth-century Franco-Hispanic geodesic mission to Quito. These structures, originally constructed by that mission and lauding Enlightenment rationality and European empire, have been redefined in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries as icons of Ecuadorian nationalism, within both a Eurocentric memorial and an Andean counter-memorial tradition. The article traces these traditions, from medieval orientalist fascination with ancient Egypt to contemporary disputes regarding pre-Columbian indigenous astronomy. As the geodesic pyramidal marker became a contested site of local and national identity, their location also shifted, from the points of geodesic measurements to the more visible and tourist friendly equator. Key players in this history include French academicians and military scientists, Ecuadorian radical liberal politicians, highland indigenous communities, tourist boosters and amateur equator aficionados.
Year: 2018
Primary URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305748817302554#ack0010
Primary URL Description: Article link, open access for 50 days then subscription
Access Model: subscription journal
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: Journal of Historical Geography
Publisher: Elsevier Ltd

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