Felipe Bauzá facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Felipe Bauzá
Portrait of Felipe Bauzá, 1800, Museo Naval de Madrid (Naval Museum of Madrid)

Felipe Bauzá y Cañas (born in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, in 1764 – died in London, England, in 1834) was a Spanish naval officer. He was also a hydrographer, which means he studied and mapped water bodies. Plus, he was a cartographer, someone who makes maps.

Felipe Bauzá's Life Story

Felipe Bauzá was born on February 17, 1764, in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. He went to a special school for sailors in Cartagena, Spain. There, he learned how to navigate ships and became a maritime pilot.

In 1785, he began training to become a hydrographer. He worked with a famous mapmaker named Vincente Tofino. Together, they helped create maps of Spain's Mediterranean coast.

Exploring the World

Felipe Bauzá was the main mapmaker for the Malaspina Expedition. This was a big journey around the world between 1789 and 1794. They explored places like the Americas, Oceania, and Australia.

A place in New Zealand, Bauza Island, is named after him. After this long sea trip, he traveled across South America by land. During this journey, he created an important map of the Andes mountains.

Working as a Mapmaker

In 1797, Bauzá started working at the Hydrography Office in Madrid. This office was in charge of making maps of water areas. He became the director of this office in 1815.

People highly respected his skills as a mapmaker. Both the Spanish government and foreign countries valued his work. He received an award called the Cross of St Vladimir from Russia in 1816. In 1819, he became a special member of the Royal Society of London.

A Time of Change

From 1820 to 1823, Bauzá was a representative for Mallorca in the Spanish parliament, called the Cortes Generales. This time was known as the "Three Liberal Years" (Trienio Liberal).

In 1823, King Ferdinand VII of Spain started to treat people who supported liberal ideas very harshly. Bauzá was in danger and had to leave Spain. He fled to London with his son.

He took with him a large collection of maps and geographical papers. These documents were about the Americas and Spain. In London, he met many important scientists. He also sold many of his maps to the British Hydrographic Office.

Later Life

In 1833, the order for his arrest in Spain was canceled. He planned to return home. However, he sadly died on March 3, 1834, from a brain problem.

Today, the British Library in London keeps many of his maps. This collection is known as the Bauzá Collection.