The book “Simiarum et vespertilionum Brasiliensium species novae”, written by the German zoologist Johann Baptist von Spix in 1823, was in London, United Kingdom. The literary work was stolen in 2008 from the Emílio Goeldi Museum in the Brazilian city of Belém and repatriated on Wednesday (01) by the Brazilian Federal Police.
The investigation of the theft involved international police cooperation and the collaboration of the London Metropolitan Police (Scotland Yard), through its Art and Antiquities Unit.
The work of Johann Baptist von Spix is part of a set of books produced by the author on Brazilian fauna and flora, in which he mainly investigated monkeys. Three employees of the Emílio Goeldi Museum were denounced for embezzlement in 2011 as a result of the investigations.
Other works stolen from the same museum were also recovered. In December 2023, “Reise in Chile und auf dem Amazonstrome”, by Swiss naturalist Eduard Friedrich Poeppig, was recovered in Argentina in a judicial cooperation action between the two countries. In March of this year, the Dutch work “De India utriusque re naturali et medica”, by William Piso, was also recovered in London.
“The repatriation of literary works represents a fundamental milestone for Brazil, demonstrating a renewed commitment to the preservation of cultural heritage and establishing an essential precedent for the recovery of historical elements,” the Federal Police highlighted in a statement.
Spix also coordinated a team of scientists who carried out many other ethnological studies on Brazilian fauna and flora – Johann Baptist von Spix
Johann Baptist von Spix Public domain
Expedition
Born in 1781, in Höchstadt an der Aisch, territory of the Kingdom of Bavaria between 1805 and 1918, Johann Baptist von Spix entered the Episcopal School of Bamberg at the age of 11 and the following year he was transferred to the Episcopal Seminary of that city. At the age of 19 he was already a doctor of philosophy and soon a famous natural philosopher. He also received his doctorate in Medicine in 1807, and in 1810 he was hired by the Royal Academy of Sciences to organize the Munich Zoological Museum.
Spix’s experience and renown meant that he was chosen to coordinate the investigations that would form part of the entourage of the Austrian Archduchess Leopoldina, who would travel to Brazil. The mission sought to integrate the countries of the European region of the future wife of the crown prince of Brazil, Pedro I, with the then Portuguese colony.
It took Spix three years (1817-1820) to travel from Rio de Janeiro to the Amazon border with Colombia, traveling 10 thousand kilometers through seven states, cataloging 3,381 species of Brazilian animals, documenting indigenous languages and forming collections for study. He also coordinated a team of scientists who carried out many other ethnological studies on Brazilian fauna and flora.
