LEOPOLDO RÍO DE LA LOZA: BIOGRAPHY, EXPERIMENTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS - ARTE - 2025

Leopoldo Río de la Loza is an important scientist from Mexico. His work acquired great importance due to the contributions he made in areas such as chemistry and pharmacy. It also played an important role in combating the cholera epidemic that broke out in the 19th century.

Among the most important advances he had, he is especially remembered for obtaining elements such as oxygen and nitrogen. It was something of great importance because they were natural elements and because he was the first scientist in Mexico to isolate these substances.

Illustration by Leopoldo Río de la Loza. Source: Jacky Río de la Loza, via Wikimedia Commons.

He had other interests, with the analysis of vegetables. In addition to having been one of the bases for the area of ​​chemistry and pharmacy to become institutionalized and take the step to have a professional character in Mexico.

Biography

Leopoldo Río de la Loza was born in Mexico City on November 15, 1807. He was part of a family without major financial difficulties, where chemistry was always present.

Leopoldo's father, Mariano Río, owned a factory where some chemical products were produced. A job that caused serious problems for the family; At the age of only eight, Leopoldo almost died in the small family factory.

It all happened in 1815 when bichloride of mercury was being manufactured. Some mistake caused a fire to start at the site with major consequences.

Leopoldo's father died from the accident and the boy suffered significant problems in his respiratory tract, caused by the toxic fumes he breathed. These problems affected him throughout his life.

Family

Leopoldo Río de la Loza married twice. His first marriage occurred in 1827 when he joined Magdalena Valderrama. He was left a widower and in charge of seven children (five boys and two girls). He was rigorous with all of them with the aim of developing a career.

Later, in 1854 he remarried, this time with María Valenta Miranda Romero. His wife was 24 years his junior. She had four other children during this union (three boys and one woman).

Two of his children, one from the first marriage and the other from the second, also stood out in the pharmacy area. Such was the case of Maximino and Francisco Río de la Loza.

Studies

A year after the accident at the family factory, he began his studies at the old Colegio de San Ildefonso.

At the university level, he successfully concluded three different careers. He first became a surgeon in 1927, then graduated as a pharmacist in 1828, and finally, in 1933, completed his training by adding a medical degree to the list.

He complemented all his knowledge with chemistry courses, which he received at the School of Mines. He also attended botany classes, taught at the Botanical Garden. And he became interested in mineralogy, for which he had to attend the College of Mining.

He came to touch and analyze other areas such as zoology and geology. But his main passion was always in chemistry.

Teaching career

A very important part of Leopoldo Río de la Loza's life has to do with the years he spent teaching. It influenced the educational plans of some professions in Mexico, by including chemistry as an area of ​​study.

He taught multiple courses over the years. He taught medical chemistry for more than 20 years at the School of Medicine. In 1845 he gave chemistry lessons to anyone interested in attending his talks.

He was also part of the National and Pontifical University of Mexico. He gave chemistry classes to the students who were part of the Industrial School of Arts and Crafts and to the students of the San Carlos Academy.

He became interested in developing curricula to teach about scientific activities at the agricultural level.

In conclusion, he dedicated himself to including chemistry in careers that previously did not take this area into account, such as medicine, pharmacy, and agriculture.

Other works

In addition to working as a professor and scientist, Leopoldo Río de la Loza's extensive knowledge allowed him to occupy various positions in governments.

His first public office was held in 1829 when he was part of the municipal board of health that was established in Mexico City, with the aim of combating the cholera epidemic that affected the country.

He also held positions as an inspector of products that passed through customs, specifically medicines. He was a medical visitor, inspected factories and industrial complexes. He became the owner of three pharmacies and a member of different scientific societies, both in Mexico and abroad.

Experiments

The experiments and investigations carried out by Leopoldo Río de la Loza throughout his professional career had a great focus on the national. The Mexican always sought to analyze the plants and minerals that were obtained in the Mexican territory, to benefit the scientific field.

Rhyolozic acid, for example, is achieved thanks to the Pipitzahuac plant. This acid, which was also called pipitzahoic, served to stop the bleeding. Although it had other equally important properties, such as being a colorant in certain fibers.

He also conducted many studies that had the water of Mexico as the protagonist. Thanks to his interest in this topic, he is one of the promoters of hydrotherapy in the country's medicine.

All his research and experiments had a common goal: to grow the scientific field in Mexico and use all the resources to develop these areas.

The isolation of oxygen and nitrogen was achieved in his laboratory. He was the first Mexican scientist to achieve this, as they had a high level of complexity because they were natural substances. He did the same with carbon dioxide, better known as carbon dioxide.

He also stood out for the creation of acids, with his experiments at an industrial level. Thanks to a lead chamber he was able to create sulfuric acid, but he also worked with other acids. He made nitric and muriatic acids, sulfuric ether and different essences, such as the essences of orange, wormwood or lemon balm.

Many more elements were manufactured by the scientist, but the most important production was that of sulfuric acid and the manufacture of caustic soda; two of the most relevant elements worldwide.

Caustic soda, for example, is very present in different household objects, since it is part of soaps and cleaning products.

Discoveries and contributions

His contributions in the area of ​​science earned him a medal awarded by the Universal Society for the Protection of Industrial Arts in London, especially for the discovery of rhyolozic acid or also known as pipitzahoic. This acid made it possible to stop the bleeding.

In addition, he built the first factory that had a lead chamber. This was important because, thanks to this, sulfuric acid could be manufactured for the first time on Mexican soil.

His contribution was important when he wrote the first treatise on chemistry in the country. He encouraged the creation of scientific societies, as was the case with the Chemical Society of Enthusiastic Students. This group was initially made up only of a student from his medical chemistry course.

All the advice he gave in the field of chemistry was important.

Published works

The writings of his authorship, which contained data on his studies and research, were published in the different scientific journals that existed in Mexico during the 19th century.

Most of his publications were focused on supporting and encouraging the growth of the scientific field in Mexico, almost always focused on analyzing natural elements that could be used to improve the area of ​​medicine and pharmacy.

He was the author of the first treatise that was made in Mexico on chemistry. This treatise received the name of Introduction to the study of the chemistry and was published in 1850. In this work it spoke on the simple bodies.

His contributions were also relevant in two works that laid the foundations of the pharmacy in Mexico, as was the case of La farmacopea mexicana, a work published in 1846, and La nueva farmacopea mexicana, which appeared almost 30 years later.

Death

As a result of the accident that he suffered when he was a child in his father's factory, Leopoldo Río suffered from a cough that affected him throughout his life. In recent years, the scientist's health has deteriorated and he has been forced to abandon all his professional work.

He finally died on May 2, 1876, at his home in Mexico City, when he was 69 years old. He had planned everything that had to be done for his funeral. He left instructions on where he wanted to be buried, the design of his grave and even what clothes he had to be buried with.

His remains remain in the Pantheon of Dolores.

References

1. Aceves Pastrana, P. Leopoldo Río de la Loza and his time.
2. Beall, A. (2018). Science!. DK.
3. Soriano, M. (1876). Annals of the Larrey Association. T. II. Mexico.
4. Urbán Martínez, G., & Aceves Pastrana, P. (2000). The scientific work of Dr. Leopoldo Río de la Loza. México, DF: Metropolitan Autonomous University, Xochimilco Unit.
5. Urbán Martínez, G., & Aceves Pastrana, P. (2001). Leopoldo Río de la Loza in the institutionalization of Mexican chemistry. Recovered from scielo.org.mx