ECUADOR Y FRANCIA EN LA CIENCIA Y LA CULTURA

Abstract

The essay comprises three parts. The first focuses on the im- portance of the First French Geodesic Mission carried out in the 18th century which, in 1736, reached the Audiencia of Quito led by La Condamine. As a Spanish counterpart were the military Jorge Juan and Antonio de Ulloa. These French and Spanish academics were linked with the Quito geographer Pedro Vicente Maldonado and with the Society of Jesus. The scientific work of this Mission lasted until 1744. In addition, in later times, several other scholars of dif- ferent European origins and nationalities visited Quito in the 18th- 19th centuries; for them, the most representative bibliography is exposed. The second part concentrates on the Second French Geo- desic Mission that began with the focus of the universal exhibitions of Paris at the end of the 19th century -science and technology show- case- and Ecuador as a center of world scientific interest between 1901-1906; Consequently, the names of the participating geodesics and the preeminence of Paul Rivet through the publications on Ecuador and his connection with the famous historian and archae- ologist Federico González Suárez, founder of the National Academy of History, sponsor and guide for the Rivet’s knowledge of archeol- ogy and history of Ecuador that culminated in France with the pub- lication of Ethnography of Ancient Ecuador. The third part deals with culture through the literature of the early twentieth century in France, Ecuador and Latin America through the mention of well- known national and foreign authors.