Ignacy Domeyko

Domeyko married Enriqueta Sotomayor y Guzman in 1850. Together they had four children: Anna, Henryk, Hernan and Kazimierz. One of his sons became a Catholic priest and one of his grandsons is a monk.

On January 23, 1889, this famous scientist and ethnographer died in Santiago de Chile, Chile. He was given a state funeral.

A mineral, a species of shellfish, an ammonite, a flower, a fox, a mountain, a port, an asteroid, two towns and a mountain range are all named for Domeyko.

Ignacy Domeyko was born on July 31, 1802 in Nesvizh, Minsk Governorate in the Russian Empire. He grew up in a large manor house. Both of his parents were of Polish ethnicity. His mother was Karolina Domeyko nee Ancut.

Ignacy's father was Anatoli Hipolit Domeyko, who served as president of the local land court. He died when Ignacy was just seven years old. He was then raised by his uncles. At age 8, the young lad enrolled in school in Szcsucin.

He enrolled in the ‘Imperial University of Vilna’ in 1816, for pursuing higher education. He studied mathematics and physics.

In 1819, Domeyko joined a secret organization ‘Philomaths’, that promoted Polish culture and independence. The group read a lot of literature.

Three years later in 1822, he successfully received a Master's degree in Philosophy. He was proud of this accomplishment.

In 1823, the secret organization was discovered and its members put on trial. The young nationalist was convicted and imprisoned at a local monastery. A year later he was released on house arrest. He then went on to work on his uncle's estate.

In 1830, he joined an armed rebellion against Russia. As a result, he was sent into exile in France the following year.

In 2007, Domeyko's bust appeared on the 10 Zlotych coin in Poland. Domeyko is credited with bringing the metric system to South America. Because of his fairness in arbitrating mining disputes, he was known as "Domeyko the Incorruptible”.