Antonio Pineda

Mausoleum of Colonel Antonio Pineda in the Botanical Garden of Manila, Philippines, 1796. Engraving by Bartolomé Vázquez, drawing by Fernando Brambila (Biblioteca Nacional de España, Madrid) Antonio Pineda (January 17, 1751 – June 23, 1792) was a Spanish naturalist and military officer. He participated in the Malaspina Expedition as leader of the natural history team which included Thaddäus Haenke and Luis Née. His scientific exploration and collecting covered a significant portion of the Pacific basin including the coast of South America, Mexico, and the Philippines. Before his untimely death in the Philippines, Pineda had amassed a huge volume of documents including scientific reports, diaries, and logbooks as well as a significant collection of natural history specimens.

Biography Pineda was born on January 17, 1751, in Guatemala City, New Spain. His Spanish father, José de Pineda, was a knight in the Order of Santiago and served as a judge in the Royal Audiencia of Guatemala. His mother, María Josefa Ramírez, was a native of Lucena, Spain and held estates in Laxa. When Pineda was six years old the family returned to Spain where his father served the Royal Chancellery in Granada. Antonio was first educated at the "Colegio de Nobles" in Madrid. When he turned seventeen he enrolled in the Spanish Military Academy and was accepted as a cadet in the distinguished Spanish Royal Guard. In addition to rigorous military training, Pineda also studied natural history and mastered several languages.

They stopped first in Montevideo on July 30, 1789 and then circled South America with stops in Patagonia, Chile, Peru, Panama, and Nicaragua. At each port Pineda and his team spent several days or weeks collecting natural history specimens in the surrounding region. Née and Haenke focused on plants while Pineda often spent his time catching or trapping animals. In addition to collecting, Malaspina recalled an incident when Née and Pineda tested a local species of Solanum on themselves resulting in severe vomiting and overall pain and swelling.