Bertoni's deathbed was here



Mosé Giacomo Bertoni (Moises Santiago Bertoni) was born 1857 in the Valley of Blenio, Ticino, Switzerland. He died in Foz do Iguaçu in 1929, in the house shown in the picture. Bertoni, a complex man, was a coloniser a scientist a political figure. As he researched on plants and wildlife he also learned Guarani and wrote about the language. I like his book: Guarani-Latin glosaary of Plants, where he compared the native Guarani and the scientific name-giving methods. He also studided the Guarani people and even wrote a book called the Guarani Civilization. He is known all over Paraguay as "Bertoni, the wise". When he died, Foz do Iguaçu declared a holiday, the bishop of Foz do Iguaçu, Monsignore Guilherme Maria Thiletzek went to Porto Bertoni by boat to say mass. The Brazilian Riverport Authority sent a river boat to take the people and Bertoni's body downriver to his last dwelling. A man had died, a myth had been born. More to come!!!!

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