FERNANDO ALTAMIRANO: BIOGRAPHY, CONTRIBUTIONS, AWARDS - BIOGRAPHIES - 2026

Fernando Altamirano (1848-1908) was a Mexican doctor and botanist who developed important investigations in the pharmacological field and dedicated his life to finding the medicinal benefits of the plants of his country of origin.

He also made relevant contributions in the field of zoology, for example when he discovered a new species of amphibian, whose scientific classification bears his name: Ambystoma Altamirani.

He developed an outstanding work as a teacher, doctor and author of scientific articles, in which he exposed the future of his research carried out individually or in collaboration with other scientists.

Biography

Fernando Guilebaldo Isabel Juan José María de Jesús Altamirano y Carvajal, was born on July 7, 1848 in Aculco, Mexico. Her parents were Micaela Carbajal Castello and Manuel Altamirano y Téllez.

Fernando was part of a large family of three brothers and seven half-brothers, the product of his father's previous marriage; and of another marriage that occurred after the death of his mother Micaela.

Education

Altamirano did not stay long in Aculco, since at the age of two his family moved to San Juan del Río in the State of Querétaro, where he attended the Colegio San Francisco de Javier.

After the death of his father in 1861, the young Fernando found in his grandfather Manuel Altamirano a father figure to emulate. He was only 13 years old when he was orphaned and his relationship with the Altamirano patriarch, who was a botanical doctor, had a great influence on his life.

With his grandfather he collected plant samples and learned about botany long before he decided to study it formally.

In 1868 he moved to Mexico City to train at the National Preparatory School and the following year he entered the National School of Medicine, where he had his first job as an assistant in the subjects: Pharmacy, History of Drugs and Pharmacology.

He graduated in 1873 and immediately enrolled in the Academy of Medicine, now known as the National Academy of Medicine of Mexico. Also that year he became a member of the Mexican Society of Natural History, of which he was president years later.

Teaching

In 1878 he obtained the degree of professor at the National School of Medicine, after presenting his thesis Contribution to the Study of National Pharmacology: Medicinal Indigenous Legumes. With illustrations by the prominent landscape painter, José María Velasco Gómez

It was a time of many occupations for Altamirano, who began to teach as a professor of Pharmacology and Physiology, continuing in parallel with his work as a pharmacy preparer and as an interim professor of the subjects: Therapeutics, Anatomy, Topography and Gynecology.

All the responsibilities that he had had up to that moment made the Mexican a successful doctor, who treated his patients at the emblematic Hospital de San Andrés in Mexico City or through private consultations.

International exhibitions

As a member of the Mexican Society of Natural History, he was in charge of producing the catalog of the collection of indigenous natural products sent to the Universal Exposition of Philadelphia in 1876.

He also participated in the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1889, specifically in the category of "chemical and pharmaceutical products, raw materials used for pharmacy, simple and compound medicines."

Representing Mexico, he was also part of the World's Fair in Chicago in 1892, in New Orleans in 1895, and in San Luis in 1904, all held in the United States.

He was also present at the IX International Congress of Hygiene and Demography held in Madrid in 1898, where he strengthened relations with scientific organizations in Europe, the United States and Latin America.

National Medical Institute

The preparations for the participation of Mexico in the aforementioned Universal Exhibition in Paris generated the conjuncture for the creation of the National Medical Institute, which opened its doors in 1888 with Fernando Altamirano as its first director.

The institute was a pioneer body in the study of the pharmacology of medicinal flora, where the first physiology laboratory in Mexico was even installed.

Altamirano held the reins of this pharmacological research center until his death.

Contributions

The scientist carried out numerous investigations through medical botanical excursions carried out in various areas of Mexico, in which he was occasionally accompanied by renowned local and international botanists. Impressive results emerged from these field work.

A new alkaloid

In 1877, in a joint work with the botanist Manuel Domínguez, he studied the composition of the seeds of the bunting (Erythrina coralloides), which allowed him to discover the presence of an alkaloid unknown until then, which he called Erythoidina.

Later, in 1888 he made an individual approach to the subject and it was only until 1937 when the alkaloid could be totally isolated, by the hand of scientists Karl Folkers and Randolph T. Majors

New species of amphibian

In 1895 he discovered an axolotl (amphibian) in the Las Cruces mountain range, near Mexico City, which turned out to be a member of a new species that they classified with the name Ambystoma Altamirani.

It is a mole salamander that only lives in the center of the Mexican Republic and is currently in danger of extinction.

Zempoala axolotl (Ambystoma Altamirani)

Source: biodiversity.morelos.gob.mx

Commercial uses

In 1905, Altamirano and the American botanist Nelson Rose cataloged a new species of the euphorbiaceous plant Palo Amarillo, located in the states of Guanajuato, Querétaro and Michoacán, which they called Euphorbia elastica.

The plant had an interesting value, because it contained an elastic resin that could be converted into commercial rubber. However, this could never be produced in a way that was economically profitable.

Publications

The botanist published hundreds of articles in the Gaceta Médica de México and in magazines of the Mexican Society of Natural History and the National Medical Institute.

Some of these investigations are mentioned below:

-1882. Some observations on indigenous medicinal plants, rubble and lentil.

-1885. Notes for the study of cocaine. Published in two installments.

-1889. Article: Apparatus for preserving and injecting artificial serum.

-1890. The tlazahuate.

-1890. Action of morphine on cold-blooded animals.

-1891. Notes for the study of the physiological and therapeutic action of Lobelia Laxiflora, HBK, var. Augustifolia, DC.

-1898. Studies on the means of purifying drinking water in Villa de Guadalupe.

-1892. Data for the study of chewing gum production.

-1894. Data for the medical application of Indigo.

-1906. Preliminary studies about the physiological action of Stova.

-1907. Facts about fibrous plants in Mexico.

-1894. Report to contribute to the environment, entitled List of common botanical names of trees and shrubs proper to repopulate the forests of the republic, accompanied by an indication of the climates in which they vegetate and how to propagate them. Made in co-authorship with the botanist José Ramírez, -1896. Natural history applied to ancient Mexicans

-1904. Materia Medica Mexicana: A manual of Mexican Medicinal Herbs. Written about the Universal Exhibition of San Luis.

He also made the translation from Latin to Spanish of the work: History of the plants of New Spain, authorship of Francisco Hernández Toledo.

Recognitions

Altamirano's work left an important mark on the world of botany, which reserved the scientific abbreviation Altam for him. to classify all the elements related to his research in the plant area. The following are discoveries that his colleagues named in his honor.

Plant genus:

-1903. Altamiranoa.

Species:

-1891. Mesoscincus altamirani

-1895. Ambystoma altamirani

-1905. Eryngium altamiranoi

-1905. Pinus altamiranoi

-1906. Leucophyllum altamirani

-1907. Ribes altamirani

-1923. Coryphantha altamiranoi

-1924. Bumelia altamiranoi

At age 25, Altamirano married Luisa González Mancera with whom he had ten children.

Fernando Altamirano died on October 7, 1908 at the age of sixty, as a result of internal bleeding, due to the rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm.

References

1. Carlos Altamirano Morales. (2015). Dr. Fernando Altamirano. Taken from dr.fernandoaltamirano.blogspot.com
2. Gabino Sánchez Rosales, (2012). The National Medical Institute and the beginnings of medical-scientific research. Taken from revistaciencia.amc.edu.mx
3. Aketzalli González. (2017). Fernando Altamirano Street. Taken from Cienciamx.com
4. Fernando Altamirano Carbajal (2018). Taken from alchetron.com
5. Fernando Altamirano Carbajal. (2019). Taken from Biodiversidad.gob.mx
6. Miguel Salinas Chávez and Graciela Cruz Hernández. (2019). Dr. Fernando Altamirano Carbajal. Taken from oeinm.org
7. Emiliano Sánchez Martínez. (2019). Fernando Altamirano Carbajal: Anamnesis of our remarkable origins. Taken from culturaqueretaro.gob.mx