Bernabé Cobo

Bernabé Cobo(born atLoperain Spain, 1582; died atLima,Peru,9 October 1657) was a SpanishJesuitmissionary and writer. He played a part in the early history ofquinineby his description ofcinchona bark;he brought some to Europe on a visit in 1632.

He was a thorough student of nature and man in Spanish America. His long residence (61 years), his position as a priest and, several times, as a missionary, gave him unusual opportunities for obtaining reliable information. The Spanish botanistCavanillesgave the name ofCobaeato a genus of plants belonging to thePolemoniaceaeofMexico,Cobaea scandensbeing its most striking representative.

Life

He went to America in 1596, visiting theAntillesandVenezuelaand landing at Lima in 1599. Entering the Society of Jesus, 14 October 1601, he was sent by his superiors in 1615 to the mission ofJuli,where, and atPotosí,Cochabamba,Oruro,andLa Paz,he laboured until 1618. He was rector of the college ofArequipafrom 1618 until 1621, afterwards atPisco,and finally atCallaoin the same capacity, as late as 1630. He was then sent to Mexico, and remained there until 1650, when he returned to Peru.

Works

He wrote two works, one of which is incomplete. It is also stated that he wrote a work on botany in ten volumes, which, it seems, is lost.

Of his main work, to which biographers give the titleHistoria general de las Indias,and which he finished in 1653, only the first half is known and has appeared in print (four volumes, at Seville, 1890 and years succeeding).The remainder, in which he treats, or claims to have treated, of every geographical and political subdivision in detail, was either never finished, or is lost.

His other book appeared in print in 1882, and forms part of theHistory of the Inca Empirementioned, but he made a separate manuscript of it in 1639, and so it became published asHistoria de la fundación de Lima,a few years before the publication of the principal manuscripts.

TheHistory of the Inca Empiremay, in American literature, be compared with one work only, theGeneral and Natural history of the IndiesbyOviedo.On the animals and plants of the continent, it is more complete thanNieremberg,Hernandez,andMonardes.In regard to the pre-Columbian past and vestiges, Cobo is, for the South American west coast, a source of primary importance, for close observations of customs and manners, and generally accurate descriptions of the principal ruins of South America.

References

• Torres Saldamando,Antiguos Jesuitas del Peru(Lima, 1882);
• Cabanilles,Discures sobre algunos botanicos españoles del siglo XVIIin the Anales de historia natural (Madrid, 1804).

Notes

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Bernabé Cobo".Catholic Encyclopedia.New York: Robert Appleton Company.