Abstract

AMETRANG, Silvia; PODGORNY, Irina  and  LOPES, Maria Margaret. Buenos Aires, 1884: how the fragility of a few skeletons triumphed over the project for a Grand National Museum. Rev. Mus. Argent. Cienc. Nat. [online]. 2012, vol.14, n.2, pp.167-174. ISSN 1853-0400.

The museums of our continent are a result from a combination of factors, such as cultural trends, rivalry between cities, countries, and research teams, and the affinities or exchanges with metropolitan centers. Alliances and scientific wars determined the course of these institutions. As we show in this paper, in the 1880s and 1890s, competition between individuals, the Museo General de La Plata of the Province of Buenos Aires and the Museo Nacional of Buenos Aires would define the paths they would follow and a race for the possession of a large fossiliferous collection.

Keywords : Francisco P. Moreno; Hermann Burmeister; Florentino Ameghino.