![\"Francisco](\"http:\/\/www.recoletacemetery.com\/images\/200707B31.jpg\" "\\"Francisco")
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Born in 1795 in what are now the northern suburbs of Buenos Aires, Francisco Javier Mu\u00f1iz<\/strong> dedicated his life to serving Argentina & became one of its first internationally acclaimed scientists.<\/p>\n Mu\u00f1iz was only 12 years old when the British invaded for the second time in 1807. Although technically too young to fight, he defended the city & received a bullet wound in his left leg… this seemed to foreshadow a lifelong involvement with the military. He opted to study medicine at the age of 19 when Cosme Argerich<\/strong> opened the Instituto M\u00e9dico-Militar<\/em> in 1814 to train surgeons for military service. Mu\u00f1iz remained under the tutelage of Argerich until transferring to the medical school at the newly-created University of Buenos Aires in 1822.<\/p>\n His first major assignment came under Coronel Juan Lavalle<\/a><\/strong> in early campaigns to take territory from the indigenous population<\/a>. Mu\u00f1iz did more than lead the medical unit; he studied customs of the indigenous people & made his first forays in natural history. The 1826 war with Brazil took Mu\u00f1iz to foreign lands where he was ordered by General Alvear<\/a> to accompany Lavalle’s troops once again. Lavalle took a bullet in the leg, & Mu\u00f1iz was fortunately there to save him. Returning to Argentina, Mu\u00f1iz received multiple honors.<\/p>\n In 1828 Mu\u00f1iz married & settled down in Luj\u00e1n, just west of Buenos Aires. Better for his health & given the opportunity to engage in scientific study, Mu\u00f1iz put to practice everything he had learned while on the battlefield. His most significant contribution to Argentina was being the first to use cowpox serum as a vaccination against smallpox. In fact, Mu\u00f1iz experimented at the same time as Edward Jenner<\/strong>… his results granted Mu\u00f1iz membership in the Royal Jennerian Society.<\/p>\n Living in Luj\u00e1n also gave Mu\u00f1iz time to pursue his other great interest: paleontology. During his first service with Lavalle, Mu\u00f1iz discovered remains of a glyptodont<\/strong>… the first ever recovered. A 10,000 year-old version of today’s armadillo, glyptodonts resembled a mix between a beaver & a turtle & some were as big as a Volkswagen Beetle. Similar fossils have been uncovered in Buenos Aires while building new subway stations. Displays can be found on the D Line (Juramento) & on the B Line (Tronador):<\/p>\n Unfortunately Mu\u00f1iz did not publicly document his discovery & a French explorer 13 years later took credit for finding a new species. Undeterred, Mu\u00f1iz received praise for sending 11 boxes of fossil specimens to Paris & even corresponded occasionally with Charles Darwin<\/strong>. Darwin wrote to Mu\u00f1iz<\/a> in 1847:<\/p>\n Your pamphlet on the scarlet fever I will present to the Royal College of Surgeons. I cannot adequately say how much I admire your continued zeal, situated as you are without means of pursuing your scientific studies and without people to sympathise with you, for the advancement of natural history; I trust that the pleasure of your pursuits affords you some reward for your exertions.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Mu\u00f1iz eventually returned to Buenos Aires where he directed the medical school & served as a member in both houses of Congress until the start of the War of the Triple Alliance<\/a>. Even though he was 70 years old, Mu\u00f1iz offered to go to the front lines. When refused, he disguised himself as a peasant, took surgical equipment & went anyway. Mu\u00f1iz remained in northern Argentina fighting a cholera epidemic until his wife passed away in 1868.<\/p>\n Returning once again to Buenos Aires, Mu\u00f1iz officially retired but decided to come to the rescue once again when a massive outbreak of yellow fever hit the city in 1871. Catching yellow fever himself, Mu\u00f1iz became one of the 14,000 casualties. After his death, the private collection of Mu\u00f1iz became the foundation of the Museum of Natural Sciences located in Parque Centenario in the neighborhood of Caballito:<\/p>\n![\"Francisco](\"http:\/\/www.recoletacemetery.com\/images\/200707B32.jpg\" "\\"Francisco")
<\/p>\n![\"Francisco](\"http:\/\/www.recoletacemetery.com\/images\/200805A15.jpg\" "\\"Francisco")
<\/p>\n![\"Glyptodont](\"http:\/\/www.recoletacemetery.com\/images\/200404A02.jpg\" "\\"Glyptodont")
<\/p>\n![\"Francisco](\"http:\/\/www.recoletacemetery.com\/images\/200803D12.jpg\" "\\"Francisco")
<\/p>\n![\"Francisco](\"http:\/\/www.recoletacemetery.com\/images\/200803D13.jpg\" "\\"Francisco")
<\/p>\n![\"Museo](\"http:\/\/www.recoletacemetery.com\/images\/200610C08.jpg\" "\\"Museo")
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![\"Francisco](\"http:\/\/www.recoletacemetery.com\/images\/200805C06.jpg\" "\\"Francisco")
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