Pedro Ruiz Gallo
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Callao, Peru
Pedro Ruiz Gallo | |
|---|---|
 Oil painting in the Aeronautical Museum of Peru | |
| Born | June 24, 1838 Etén, Chiclayo, Peru |
| Died | April 24, 1880 (aged 41) Callao, Peru |
| Years of service | 1848–1880 |
| Known for | Several inventions, including the Great Clock of Lima |
| Battles / wars | |
Pedro Ruiz Gallo (Etén, June 24, 1838 – Callao, April 24, 1880) was a Peruvian polymath, serving as a soldier and inventor, also working as a watchmaker, mechanic, musician, painter, researcher, doctor, and explorer,[1] nationally considered one of the forerunners of modern aeronautics[2] and patron of the Peruvian Army's engineering branch.[3] He was the creator of the monumental clock that was located in the Parque de la Exposición, which was looted by Chilean troops during the War of the Pacific.
He was born in the then Villa de Eten in 1838, his parents were the Spanish colonel Pedro Manuel Ruiz and Juliana Gallo,[4] when he was still a very young boy he lost his father and shortly after when he was just 11 years old his mother, this situation forced him to leave his small hometown to go to the city of Chiclayo where he began working as a watchmaker's assistant, a hobby that would interest him for the rest of his life.
Military career
Since his childhood Ruiz had felt attracted to mechanics but moved by his military vocation, he moved to Lima at the age of 15 to enlist in the army, entering in 1854.[4] Due to his merits and recognized intelligence, he quickly rose in rank. the arms race being that in 1855 he already held the rank of captain serving as an assistant in the prefecture of the department of Amazonas, where he carried out many explorations and studies in the still unknown Peruvian jungle, even exploring the Pongo de Manseriche.[4] He also mapped the course of the Marañón River and one of its tributaries, the Cahuapanas River. During this period he also dabbled in medicine, achieving the discovery of bovine fluid against smallpox with which he managed to create an efficient vaccine.[5] During his stay in Chachapoyas he built a public clock that he donated to the main church of that city.
In 1865 he was promoted to major graduate and when the revolution of General Mariano Ignacio Prado began that same year, and which would later lead to the war against Spain, he joined the restorative army that marched to Lima and overthrew President Juan Antonio Pezet, to then fight in the combat of May 2[4] against the Spanish squadron; after this action he was promoted to lieutenant colonel.