Gabriel Císcar

Gabriel Císcar
Portrait of Gabriel Císcar. (Naval Museum of Madrid).

Gabriel Císcar y Císcar (Oliva, Valencia; March 17, 1760 – Gibraltar; August 12, 1829) was a Spanish mathematician, naval officer and politician.

Gabriel Císcar is recognized mainly for his contributions to mathematics and to science in general. He published several works on mathematics, navigation and astronomy, fields in which he was particularly distinguished. Among his most important works is the "Tratado de Navegación" (Treatise on Navigation), which was used as a textbook at the Royal Academy of Midshipmen. This treatise focused on astronomical navigation and was fundamental to the training of naval officers in his time.

Biography

Gabriel was the second son of Pedro Císcar Fernández de Mesa and Rosa Císcar Pascual, a family of hidalgos, and a nephew of the well-known Gregorio Mayans y Ciscar.

After completing his studies in Philosophy and Humanities at the University of Valencia and becoming a frigate lieutenant, he obtained the chair of mathematics at the Cartagena School of Midshipmen, devoting himself fully to teaching and publishing several works in his field, as well as on nautical science, while not neglecting the literary circles of Cartagena and also publishing literary works.

He was married to Ana Agustina Berenguer de Marquina y Ansoátegui, daughter of the Viceroy of New Spain, Don Félix Berenguer de Marquina.

Císcar gained prestige, and in 1788 he obtained the post of director of the School.

Císcar chaired the Spanish commission, which also included Agustín de Pedrayes, that collaborated in Paris in 1798 in the establishment of the decimal metric system.

Napoleonic Invasion

However, the events of 1808 led him to leave academic life and enter politics.

He was a member of the Central Junta between 1808 and 1810, during the Napoleonic Invasion of Spain, and fought against the invading French forces, serving as civil and military governor of Cartagena.

Later he took part in the Second Regency established between 1811 and 1812 by the Cortes of Cádiz, together with Joaquín Blake and Pedro Agar y Bustillo, during which the Spanish Constitution of 1812, known as "La Pepa", was drafted. Císcar defended liberal and reformist principles, supporting the constitution and advocating reforms that sought to modernize the country and reduce the absolute power of the Monarch.

Restoration and liberal period

Upon the return of Ferdinand VII in 1814, and despite his defense of the King's cause, he was imprisoned for his liberal ideas and banished to his native Oliva. He spent time in England and France, where he continued his scientific studies and wrote several important works.

He was not vindicated until the Liberal Triennium, when he was promoted to lieutenant general (1820), and in 1823 he held the post of Regent.

Exile

The triumph of Ferdinand VII's absolutist restoration, aided by the European monarchies that sent the so-called Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis, forced him to flee into exile in Gibraltar, where he died six years later, living on a pension granted by the Englishman Duke of Wellington.

Works

He is considered the most outstanding Spanish mathematician of his time, the author of several works in this field, on naval subjects and even literary works, such as the Poema físico-astronómico (Physico-Astronomical Poem, 1828).

He wrote:

• Tratado de cosmografía para la instrucción de los Guardias Marinas (1796).
• Tratado de trigonometría esférica para la instrucción de los Guardias Marinas (1796)
• Memoria elemental sobre los nuevos pesos y medidas fundados en la naturaleza (1800);
• Apuntes sobre medidas, pesos y monedas, que pueden considerarse como una segunda parte de la Memoria Elemental.
• Curso de Estudios Elementales de Marina, Volume I, which contains the "Tratado de Aritmética", and Volume II, which contains the "Tratado de Geometría".

Legacy

Gabriel Císcar is remembered as a pioneer of scientific education in Spain. His influence extended beyond his lifetime, leaving a lasting legacy in the training of future naval officers and in the introduction of scientific methodologies into naval instruction.

In addition, his commitment to liberal ideas and his participation in the drafting of the Constitution of 1812 place him as a key figure in the political history of Spain.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gabriel Císcar y Císcar.

• Sellés, Manuel (2019). "Gabriel Císcar y Císcar". Diccionario Biográfico Español (in español). Real Academia de la Historia.
• Gabriel Císcar at Biografías y Vidas. (in Spanish)
• Gabriel Ciscar at the Biblioteca Virtual de Polígrafos of the Fundación Ignacio Larramendi (in Spanish)
• Personajes de la Guerra de la Independencia Española (in Spanish)