León Cadogan

León Cadogan

Leon Cadogan (Ethnologist) (1899-May 30, 1973) was born in Asuncion, Paraguay shortly after the arrival of his Australian parents to the country. The Australians were a large group of people migrating to Paraguay at the end of the 19th century, to form a socialistic colony with utopian ideals.

Childhood and studies

Born in Assumption July 29 1899. Son of John Cadogan and Rose Stone, Australians, arrived at Paraguay in the late nineteenth century with the idea of establishing the New Cologne in Australia near the town of Coronel Oviedo.

A fire occurred in the parental home 1904 Cadogan forced the family to leave Cologne and then running paths, to settle in Villarrica. In the German School of that city, the small Leon, who only knew English and Guarani, learned German.

He was 18 when he obtained employment in the refrigerator of the company Swift Zevallos Cué where he worked as a secretary. In his continuous wish for progress, his friendship with the French Emile Lelieur helped him learn French, have access to reading classic authors and obtain sufficient knowledge of elementary mathematics and the use of logarithms.

Since then he began to live what restless and observer spirit demanded. In 1919he was in Buenos Aires and two years later inside the jungles of Caaguazú, producing mate. Absorbed by the rugged and primitive environment, he became interested in the existence of the despised Aborigines in the region, from which little was known.

He became interested in the Guarani culture in 1921. Cadogan studied, published and became an authority on Mbya-Guarani, Ava-Guarani, Pai-tavytera, and Ache-guayaki, all Guarani tribes living in the forests of the Occidental part of Paraguay.

While living with the Indians, he was accepted as a member of the Mbya-Guarani's and initiated under the autochthonous religious name of "Tupa Kuchubi Veve" ("God that flies like a whirlwind") and following the traditions of the group, he kept his Indian name secret until his death. The Mbya-Guarani had a secret, esoteric religious language unknown to the world until his initiation.

Cadogan published several studies of the language, religion and culture of the Guarani Indians, becoming the foremost authority of this group. One of his most famous works is Ayvu Rapyta, a collections of religious traditions of the Mbya-Guarani.

His works were published in academic publications in Paraguay, Uruguay, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Austria, France, USA. He was appointed "Curator of Indians" by the Paraguayan government and posthumously considered as one of the 100 most important people of the millennium in his country.

His library was donated to the Universidad Catolica de Asuncion.

Major publications

• Ayvu Rapyta, Textos miticos de los Mbya-Guarani del Guaira (Boletim No. 227-Antropologia, No. 5. São Paulo: Universidade de São Paulo, Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciencias e Letras, 1959)
• Diccionario Mbya-Guarani Castellano (Biblioteca Paraguaya de Antropologia-Vol. XVII, Fundacion "Leon Cadogan" Ceaduc Cepac. Asuncion, 1992)
• Nuevas observaciones acerca del origen de los Guayaki. (Jornadas Internacionales de Arqueologia y Etnografia, Buenos Aires, 1960)

Scholars and organizations from a dozen countries reproduced in their magazines and newsletters a large number of articles of the Paraguayan indigenous renowned scientist.

Leon Cadogan died on May 30 1973 after forty years dedicated to the cause of his brothers Guarani, claiming the persecution and abuse they were subjected to.

For the 9513/76 municipal ordinance a street in the neighborhood of residence is named after the illustrious researcher. It is the third parallel north of the street, 1 Lt. Caceres Sanabria of the route that starts with Transchaco east-west direction.

References

• "The Indians of Paraguay." Branislav Súsnik and Miguel Chase-Sardi
• "One Hundred Paraguayans of the Twentieth Century." Fascicules collectibles last minute

External links

• centenary of the birth of Leon Cadogan
• Gua'í. Com