Jerónimo de Sosa facts for kids
Jerónimo de Sosa was a Spanish Franciscan friar who lived in the 1600s. He was also a genealogist, which means he studied family histories and developed a special way to number ancestors in a family tree.
Sosa worked as a teacher of theology (the study of religious faith) at a royal monastery in Naples, Italy. In 1676, he wrote a book called Noticia de la gran casa de los marqueses de Villafranca. In this book, he used and helped make popular a numbering system for family trees. This system was first created by another person named Michaël Eytzinger in 1590.
What Is Genealogy?
Genealogy is like being a detective for your family! It's the study of family history. People who do genealogy try to find out who their ancestors were. Ancestors are the people who came before you in your family, like your parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and so on.
Genealogists often create family trees. These trees show how different family members are connected. They can help you learn about where your family came from and what their lives were like.
Sosa's Special Numbering System
Jerónimo de Sosa's numbering system made it easier to organize family trees. Imagine you are number 1. Your father would be number 2, and your mother would be number 3. Then, your father's father would be 4, and your father's mother would be 5. Your mother's father would be 6, and her mother would be 7.
This system continues by doubling the number for a parent. For example, if you are number 'N', your father is '2N' and your mother is '2N + 1'. This makes it simple to trace back through generations.
How His System Became Famous
Sosa's method became very well-known thanks to a man named Stephan Kekulé von Stradonitz. In 1898, Kekulé published a book called Ahnentafel-atlas. He used Sosa's numbering system in his book, which helped spread it to many more people.
Because of this, the system is now often called the Ahnentafel or the Sosa–Stradonitz Method. It is still used by genealogists around the world today to keep track of ancestors in a clear and organized way.
See also
In Spanish: Jerónimo de Sosa para niños
