Liborio Zerda

Dr.
Liborio Zerda
Born(1834-07-10)10 July 1834
Bogotá, Republic of New Granada
Died9 November 1919(1919-11-09) (aged 85)
Bogotá,  Colombia
NationalityColombian
EducationMedicine
Alma materUniversidad Central
Known forEl Dorado, numerals, chicha
Scientific career
FieldsMedicine, history
InstitutionsColegio del Rosario (1858-1918)
At the end of the 19th century, radioactivity was discovered. In these years Zerda published about the phenomenon and about ions and electrons
In 1889 Liborio Zerda published about chicha, alcoholic beverage of maize and sugar, produced by the Muisca and still popular in 19th century Bogotá
Zerda's most renowned work El Dorado (1883) tells about the ritual at Lake Guatavita, represented in the golden Muisca raft, which was not found until after Zerda's death
Muisca numerals were studied by Zerda
A mould for the production of tunjos may have been misinterpreted by Zerda to be a Muisca calendar
Zerda believed the site of the El Dorado ritual was not Lake Guatavita, as is commonly accepted today, yet in the Siecha Lakes

Liborio Zerda (Bogotá, Republic of New Granada, 10 July 1834 (other sources state 1830 or 1833)[1][2] - Bogotá, Colombia, 9 November 1919) was a Colombian physician and Muisca scholar. Zerda has been important in the natural sciences of the late 19th and early 20th century in Colombia, publishing many articles about various topics, from medicine to chemical analysis, radioactivity and the popular drink chicha.[1][3]

Zerda was contemporaneous with other Muisca scholars, and influenced by them; Joaquín Acosta and Ezequiel Uricoechea. He analysed the work done by José Domingo Duquesne on the Muisca numerals and published in 1883 his major work El Dorado about the mythical El Dorado, that he situated not in Lake Guatavita as is currently accepted to have been the site of the inauguration of the new zipa, but in the Siecha Lakes in the Chingaza Natural National Park.

Liborio Zerda taught at the Colegio del Rosario in Bogotá for 60 years and died on 9 November 1919 in the Colombian capital.

  1. ^ a b (in Spanish) Biography Liborio Zerda - Banco de la República
  2. ^ (in Spanish) Liborio Zerda - Banco de la República
  3. ^ (in Spanish) Doctor Liborio Zerda