Yesterday’s personalities: Agostino Codazzi's life and works

Agostino Codazzi

Agostino Codazzi is one of the Venezuelan national heroes. He was born in Lugo di Ravenna in 1793 and died in Espiritu Santo in 1859.

Revolutionary, soldier, geographer and cartographer, since he was a boy Agostino Codazzi was attracted by all that was a social or political change; so when he was very young he joined the Napoleon’s Army that, despite all the slaughters, took along the innovative spirit of the French revolution. He was trained in Pavia Theoretical and Practical Artillery School, and became the protagonist of many battles at the beginning of the nineteenth century.

When Napoleon fell down, like many other reduces Codazzi was forced to ménage on his own, facing ups and downs. After the wreckage of his ship carrying to the Middle East all his goods, as well as all his savings, Codazzi sailed to South America. In that moment, the independence wars were raging, and professional soldiers were particularly appreciated.

Together with Costante Ferrari, a fellow compatriot, he had a significant role in the birth of Colombia; then he was given the task of marking the topography of Maracaibo region. Shortly afterwards, he took the Venezuelan nationality. His gauging of Maracaibo was so precise that he was entrusted to mark the boundaries among Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador.

This new conjunction of soldier and cartographer threw him on the prestigious armchair of Chief of Staff and Codazzi took advantages for the compilation of an atlas of Venezuela’s eleven provinces, at that moment mostly unknown.

His works were really appreciated all over the world, but they were interrupted when Codazzi had to fight the caudillos’ rebellion. Because of this action Codazzi was appointed Governor of the state of Barinas; shortly afterwards he was removed from the office, because of a coup d’état, very frequent at those latitudes.

At that time he was a very famous cartographer and, when he was not engaged in battles or in intervening in quarrels, he was appointed of prestigious tasks, like the English request of a cartographic inspection in order to build a trans-oceanic channel. Two years later, in 1854, the Panama Canal is marked, also thanks to his suggestion.

Unfortunately, struggles infuriated in Venezuela and Codazzi, now appointed general, was forced to lead his troops. In 1857 he abandoned his uniform and dedicated himself full time to geography and cartography, in a rather unknown area between Amazonia and Andes.

Codazzi died of malaria on February 7, 1859 in Espiritu Santo, still known as Codazzi Village, in the forest on the Andean cordillera.