Jacinto Jijón y Caamaño

Who was Jacinto Jijón y Caamaño?

Jacinto Jijón y Caamaño was an Ecuadorian historian and politician, born in Quito on December 11, 1890 to Don Manuel Jijón Larrea and Doña Dolores Caamaño y Almada. He was the mayor of the city of Quito from 1946 to 1948. He was a member of the Ecuadorian parliament and a candidate for the presidency of Ecuador. He went to school in Quito, where he was taught by Archbishop Federico González Suárez. In 1912, he accompanied a fellow pupil, Don Carlos Manuel Larrea, and his own mother to Europe. There, he developed his interest in the sciences, and learned English, French and German. It was, having collected a large number of books, that he returned to Ecuador and began to utilize his funds to examine pre-Hispanic settlements in the area.

As an archeologist, Jacinto Jijón y Caamaño surveyed pre-Hispanic settlement near the town of Manta, mapping the largest structures. It was then that he became the first to use the term "Manteño" to describe such settlement. Jijón y Caamaño believed that the Manteños operated like a trading ring rather than a kingdom or empire, and drew parallels to the Hanseatic League.

He wrote several works, including Quito y la independencia de America: discurso leido en la sesion solemne celebrada por la Academia Nacional de Historia ... en conmemoracion del I centenario de la batalla de Pichincha. He also wrote books on archaeological topics, such as the Antropología prehispánica del Ecuador.