Guido Boggiani

Guido Boggiani
Guido Boggiani

Born

20 Sept 1861
Omegna, Italy

Died

7 May 1902
La Victoria, Paraguay

Fields

Ethnology

Institutions

Chaco, Paraguay

Alma mater Brera Academy, Milan

Guido Boggiani (18611902) was an Italian painter, picture drawer, photographer, and ethnologist who in 1887
traveled through the interior of Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay to document the lives of Indians in the region. Now
hailed as a "pioneer of fieldwork"[1] in Italian ethnology, he was ritually killed by natives in 1902.

Early years, Italy

Guido Boggiano was born on 20 September 1861 in Omegna (Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola) to Giuseppe
Boggiani and Clelia Gen. From his father, Giuseppe inherited a passion for the arts, especially painting. When he
was 17, and after studying general culture, Boggiani went to the Brera Academy (Milan) to study painting. He was
taught by Filippo Carcano, becoming a prominent painter. In 1883 Boggiani exhibited for the first time in Palazzo
delle Belle Arte (Rome), and his painting della raccolta castagne was acquired by the National Museum of Modern
Art in Rome for about 6,000 pounds, a price considered high at that time.
In 1887, when 26, Boggiani undertook a journey to Argentina in order to show his paintings. In Buenos Aires he met
several Italians who lived in Paraguay, and through the comments made, especially on the areas of Chaco and
indigenous peoples, his fascination with Paraguay started.

Later years, Paraguay

In 1888 Boggiani went to Asuncin intending to trade in cattle and hides, then began his first expedition in the Gran
Chaco. With the efforts of Don Juan De Cominges he reached Puerto Casado. Here he made his first contact with the
Chamacoco Indians. He returned to Italy in 1893, bringing a collection of artifacts of great anthropological value,
and started writing books based on his experiences.
In 1896 he returned to Asuncin. This time equipped with a camera, tripod and all the elements for the development
of glass plates, he was convinced that photography was the only way to study these peoples living in their little huts.
Since his subjects may well have believed that his photographs were robbing them of their souls, this was a
dangerous occupation. In the end, besides his many books, his photographs (more than 500 were made from 1896 to
1901) earned him and the subjects of his art the interest and admiration of a wider audience; part of his collection

Guido Boggiani
was subsequently acquired by the Ethnological Museum of Berlin.
Boggiani was last seen by urban society on October 24, 1901, along with his assistant Flix Gavilan, when he left
Asuncin towards the Gran Chaco. In October 1902 Boggiani wrote for the last time to his brother Oliveira, writing
of details of the expedition. It wasn't until 1904 that the Italian community of Asuncin organized an expedition, led
by the Spanish explorer Jos Fernandez Cancio, and on 20 October 1904 found the remains of Boggiano with his
skull destroyed. It is supposed that the Chamacoco had split his head to prevent Boggiani and his camera from
exerting more harm to their souls; in 1902 the American Anthropologist reported he had been killed "presumably at
the hands of the Tobas Indians."[2] His camera was found buried, and it is assumed many negatives too are buried.
The actual remains of Boggiani are in a tomb in the Italian cemetery of Asuncin.
Boggiani's work could be saved thanks to the Czech explorer and botanist Alberto Vojtch Fri (18821944), who
went to Paraguay a few years later and was able to recover all his belongings, thanks to his good relations with the
natives. His grandson, Pavel Fri, later succeeded in developing all of the photographs, and the collection is
reproduced in Guido Boggiani, Photographer (1997).

Awards, honors
In Italy Boggiani was awarded, among others, the gold medal "Monaco di Bavaria." A museum in the town of San
Lorenzo (Paraguay) bears his name, the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography Guido Boggiani.

Bibliography
Works by Boggiani
Notizie etnografiche sulla trib dei Ciamacoco, etc. Atti della Societ Romana di Antropologia. vol. 2. Rome:
Societ Romana per l'Antropologia, 1894.
I Ciamacoco. Rome: Societ Romana per l'Antropologia, 1894.
With Vittorio Bottgo. Viaggi di scoperta nel cuore dell'Africa: Il Giuba esplorata. Rome: Loescher, 1895.
I Caduvei (Mbay o Guaicur). Viaggio d'un artista nell'America Meridionale. Romer: Ermanno Loescher, 1895.
Os Caduveo. Translated and annotated. Biblioteca histrica brasileira 14. So Paulo: Livraria Martins Editra,
1945.
Tatuaggio o pittura? Studio intorno ad una curiosa usanza delle popolazioni indigene dell'antico Peru. Rome:
Stabilimento Tipografico G. Civelli, 1895. (Extract from Atti del IIo Congresso Geografico Italiano, Roma, 22-27
settembre 1895.)
Vocabolario dell'idioma ciamacoco. Extract from Atti della Societ Romana per l'Antropologia; 2:1. Rome: 1894.
Vocabolario dell'idioma ciamacoco. Rev. estmr Loukotka. Buenos Aires, "Coni", 1929.
Vocabolario dell'idioma guan. ( comune anche alle trib Ciapuchi, Sanapana, Angaite e Lengua o Petegme, e
forse anche alla Pilaga o Pitipaga). Memoria di Guido Boggiani. Atti della R. Accademia dei Lincei. Rome, 1895.
Apuntes sueltos de la lengua de los indios caduveos del Chaco paraguayo. Buenos Aires: Impr. y Papeleria La
Buenos Aires, 1897.
Nei dintorni di Corumb (Brasile). Roma, Presso la Societ geografica italiana, 1897.
La Questione dei confini tra le repubbliche del Paraguay e della Bolivia. Roma, Presso la Societ geografica
italiana, 1897.
"Etnografa del Alto Paraguay" 1898.
"Guaicur. Su nombre, posicin geogrfica, reporte tnico y lingstico en la Amrica Meridional". 1898.
"En favor de los indios Chamacocos" 1898.
"Los chamacocos"
"Vocabulario del idioma chamacoco"
"Los indios caigua del Alto Paran (Misiones)"

Guido Boggiani
Discusiones sobre filologa etnogrfica y geografa histrica. Asuncin: Guido Boggiani, 1899.
Sobre ortografa de nombres geogrficos guaranes. Buenos Aires, Imprenta y litografa "La Buenos Aires,"
1899.
Compendio de etnografia Paraguaya moderna. Asuncin, 1900.

Works on Boggiani
Bertelli, Antonio de Padua. Os indios cavaleiros Guaycurus: fatos e acontecidos entre 1526 - 1986 no Pantanal
do Mato Grosso. So Paulo: Uyara, 1987. In Portuguese.
Boggiani y el Chaco: una aventura del siglo XIX: fotografas de la coleccin Fri. Buenos Aires: Museo de Arte
Hispanoamericano Isaac Fernndez Blanco, 2002.
Bonati, Isabella. Guido Boggiani: Orme nell'ignoto. Turin: Il Tucano, 2006. ISBN 8888473106. In Italian.
Comitato Pro-Boggiani (Asuncin). Alla ricerca di Guido Boggiani. Spedizione Cancio nel Ciaco Boreale, Alto
Paraguay. Relazione e documenti. Milano: Bontempelli, 1903.
Diaz-Perez, Viriato, and Ral Amarai. Coronario di Guido Boggiani. Palma de Mallorca: Luis Ropoli, 1977.
ISBN 8485048350.
Fri, Pavel, and Yvonna Friov, eds. Guido Boggiani: Fotograf / Fotografo / Fotgrafo / Photographer. Prague:
Titanic, 1997. ISBN 80-85909-25-1. A large-format book with prints and also text in Czech, Italian, Spanish,
Portuguese, and English.
Fri, Pavel, and Yvonna Friov, eds. Guido Boggiani Fotografo. Lisbon: Museo Nacional de Etnologia, 2001.
ISBN 9727760899. In Portuguese.
Lehmann-Nitsche, Robert, ed. La Coleccin Boggiani de Tipos Indigenas de Sudamrica Central / Die Sammlung
Boggiani von Indianentypen ause dem zentralen Sdamerika. Buenos Aires: R. Rosauer, 1904. A series of 100
postcards on those originating Paraguayans, which included a supplement of 12 naked special reserved for
scientists.
Leigheb, Maurizio. Lo sguardo del viaggiatore: vita e opere di Guido Boggiani. Novara: Interlinea, 1997. ISBN
8882121356.
Leigheb, Maurizio, ed. Guido Boggiani: Pittore, esplatore, etnografo. Novara, 1986. Torino: Regione Piemonte,
1986.
Leigheb, Maurizio, and Lino Cerutti, eds. Guido Boggiani la vita i viaggio le opere: atti del Convegno
internazionale, Novara, 8-9 marzo 1985 Novara: Banca Popolare di Novara, 1992.
Pettazzoni, Raffaele. In Memoria di Guido Boggiani. Rome: Centro italiano di studi americani, 1941.
Scotti, Pietro. I contributi americanistici di Guido Boggiani. Genova, Libreria degli studi, 1955.
Scotti, Pietro. La seconda spedizione di Guido Boggiani fra i Caduvi (1897). Genova: Libreria degli studi, 1963.
Viviani, Alberto. Guido Boggiani: alla scoperta del Gran Chaco. Turin: Paravia, 1951.
Vangelista, Chiara. "Un pittore etnografo e mercante: Scambi commerciali e osservazioni etnografiche di Guido
Boggiani durante un viaggio tra i Cadiueu." In Fedora Giordano and Alberto Guaraldo (ed. and introd.), Gli
indiani d'America e l'Italia, II. Alessandria, Italy: Orso, 2002. 61-77.

Guido Boggiani

References
[1] Vinigi Grottanelli, et al. "Ethnology and/or Cultural Anthropology in Italy: Traditions and Development. Current Anthropology 18.4 (1977):
593-614, p. 595
[2] "Guido Boggiani", American Anthropologist n.s. 4 (1902): 568

External links
Abel, Alexander. " El arte de robar el alma a los indios (http://www.clarin.com/suplementos/zona/2002/11/
17/z-00601.htm)". Clarn, 17 November 2002. (Spanish)
Giordano, Mariana. " El hombre de la cmara (http://www.pagina12.com.ar/imprimir/diario/suplementos/
radar/9-472-2002-11-11.html)". Pgina 12, 10 November 2002. (Spanish)
Machado, Alvaro. " Hell and Heaven in Chaco: Guido Boggiani's History (http://web.archive.org/web/
20021212053249/http://opera-prima.com/guidoenglish.html)". Article with sample images. Via Wayback.
(English)

Supplementary images (http://web.archive.org/web/20021221135538/opera-prima.com/galeriaguido.

html). Via Wayback.
Pesis, Hernn. " El trgico final del fotgrafo (http://www.leedor.com/notas/1406---guido_boggiani.html)".
Leedor, 13 October 2005. (Spanish)

Article Sources and Contributors

Article Sources and Contributors

Guido Boggiani Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=438658165 Contributors: Aboutmovies, BD2412, Bearcat, Berny68, CommonsDelinker, Drmies, Eleefecosta, Gampe,
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Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors

File:Guido Boggiani portrait.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Guido_Boggiani_portrait.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: unknown Guido Boggiani ?

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