User:Krisgabwoosh/Pablo Busch
Pablo Busch | |
|---|---|
,_c._1930.jpg) Portrait of Busch, c. 1930 | |
| Born | Paul Busch 4 November 1867 |
| Died | 3 May 1950 (aged 82) Portachuelo, Santa Cruz, Bolivia |
| Occupations |
|
| Spouse(s) |
Raquel Becerra Villavicencio
(m. 1893; sep. 1903)Enriqueta Antelo Hurtado
(m. 1912, separated) |
| Partner | Petrona Baldivieso (c. 1908–1910) |
| Parent(s) | Ferdinand Busch Bertha Wiesener |
Pablo Busch Wiesener (born Paul Busch;[α] 4 November 1867 – 3 May 1950) was a German-born explorer, physician, and politician. He served as subprefect of Ñuflo de Chávez Province from 1924 to 1925 and was the estranged father of Germán Busch, the president of Bolivia from 1937 to 1939.
Background and early life
[edit]Origins and family background
[edit]Paul Busch was born on 4 November 1867 in Königsaue,[2] an agrarian settlement in the fertile Magdeburg Börde, near the eponymous city, in what is now the Bördeland Municipality of Saxony-Anhalt.[3] His father, Ferdinand Busch, was Kapellmeister of St. John's, the Lutheran church in Eickendorf, and taught music and mathematics there and in the adjacent villages.[4] His mother was Bertha Wiesener, and he was one of at least four siblings – although some sources cite as many as seven.[5][β]
Of his three named brothers, only one, Georg, ever accompanied Busch abroad. "Jorge", as his name was Hispanicized, moved to Bolivia in 1906, where he captained a steamboat that traversed the Mamoré River in the employ of his brother's company. After four years, he returned to Germany to work in Neumünster. Another brother, Wilhelm, studied philology in Berlin and spent his life as a school professor.[7] Little is known of "Juan" – a translation of either Johann, Johannes, or Hans – the supposed eldest brother. An accountant and merchant, oral history states that he founded a brewery.[8]
Education and emigration
[edit]Busch completed his primary education in Eickendorf and attended secondary in neighboring Magdeburg. He graduated as a physician in Halle an der Saale and completed specialist medical training at several German institutes.[6][γ] He received a doctorate in surgery from a university in Berlin with a specialization in tropical diseases.[12] Writer Carlos Montenegro notes that Busch was "little more than in his mid-adolescence" by the time he completed his university studies.[13]
In 1890, at age 23, Busch immigrated to Bolivia to seek a career in education. The exact motives for his departure are unclear.[8] Heinrich states that he was obligated into exile due to his republican and anti-monarchist views.[9] Busch booked passage on the Hamburg America Line and made port in Buenos Aires.[14] From there, he traveled by land through the northern Argentine trail, passing the cities of Rosario, Santa Fe, and Santiago del Estero toward the Bolivian frontier.[12] En route, he was assailed by bandits but is said to have fought off his attackers. In a tale recounted by Hollweg, Busch purportedly fractured one bandit's skull with his cane and delivered the other to the police himself.[10]
Activities in Bolivia
[edit]Business ventures and medical practice
[edit]Upon his arrival in Bolivia, Busch settled in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, a then-remote city isolated from the Andean west but which benefitted from the flourishing rubber boom.[15] There, Busch developed a close friendship with Wálter Villinger, a compatriot emigrant from Biberach an der Riß in Baden, who invited him to enter business with one Emilio Zeller.[16] Zeller, a prominent wholesaler who emigrated from Baden around the 1880s, had established himself in the years since as the largest industrialist in the Bolivian Orient.[17] His joint trading company, Zeller & Roessler – founded in 1890 alongside Austrian businessman Max Roessler – primarily dealt in the import-export trade but had a hand in several industries and operated a sizeable fleet of steamboats, which ferried both passengers and cargo through the rivers of the Bolivian Amazon.[18] Villinger and Busch's involvement with Zeller gave rise to Zeller, Villinger & Co., with Busch as one of the firm's main shareholders.[19]
Over the following years, Busch navigated the many tributaries of the Amazon basin, which connected isolated communities to the major eastern population centers. He attended – often pro bono – to the medical needs of local indigenous tribes.[20] According to Hollweg, his penchant for accurate diagnoses, efficient treatments, and therapeutic accomplishments led superstitious minds to label him a "witch or curandero".[10] Between 1893 and 1895, Busch settled in Trinidad, Beni, where he practiced medicine and managed the branch office of his partners' firm. Soon, however, swelling dissatisfaction with sedentary life spurred him to move on. For the next eight years, Busch lived as a semi-nomad. His recurrent medical expeditions and business ventures on behalf of Zeller led him to frequent several riverside communities in the Beni and Santa Cruz departments, especially Baures, the site of his trade office, and San Javier, where he owned a residence.[21]
Involvement in the Acre War
[edit]... Busch played an active role in supporting the Bolivian camp,
https://archive.org/details/la-razon-1917-8266/page/n5/mode/2up?q=%22Pablo+Busch%22
Relationships and children
[edit]During a stopover in Trinidad on an expedition in 1892, Busch met his first wife, Raquel Becerra Villavicencio.[22][δ] They maintained an intermittent romantic relationship throughout Busch's regular comings and goings and finally wed in the Benian capital on 12 June 1893 – he, 25 years of age; she 18, approaching 19.[24] ...
Busch fathered five children with Becerra throughout their marriage. Due to the couple's frequent travels and nomadic lifestyle, only the eldest, Josefina (born 8 May 1895), was born in Trinidad – although even her birthplace is stated as Santa Ana del Yacuma in Busch's much-questioned will and testament. The remaining four children were all delivered in riverside communities along the routes of Busch's expeditions. Bertha (born 18 February 1897) was born in either Villa Bella or somewhere along the Beni River between that locale and the town of Cachuela Esperanza. Elisa (born 27 January 1900) and Pablo Jr. (born 27 November 1901) were both born in San Javier.[26][ε] The birthplace of Busch's fifth and youngest son with Becerra, Germán (born 23 March 1903), remains the subject of particular debate among scholars, who claim either El Carmen del Iténez or San Javier as the site. Opinions often lie along regional lines depending on whether the advocate party is from Beni or Santa Cruz.[28]
[Pablo] Busch lacked affection for anyone and in general was a bad father and a worse husband.
— Robert Brockmann[29]
Mere months after the birth of Germán, Busch abandoned the family.[30] According to his granddaughter, Gloria Busch Carmona, the family narrative is that Busch "saw a beautiful 14-year-old girl, fell madly in love, and left [Becerra] and their children to go with her".[31] Busch remained estranged from his family; he and Becerra reunited only once in 1938, and he was absent in his children's lives well into adulthood.[32]
Later life and death
[edit]... by the sudden suicide of his son Germán while in office on 23 August and the outbreak of World War II at the beginning of September. (?) Busch remained trapped in Germany for the duration of the conflict. Despite his advanced age, his was pressed into service as a field surgeon operating out of Neumünster in the northern Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein. (B322) Upon the war's end, Busch was interned in a British prisoner-of-war camp and was stripped of his diplomatic passport by the Bolivian government, leaving him undocumented alongside millions of other displaced Germans. (H333 B322-333)
Some time after the war, thanks to the diplomatic efforts of Aniceto Solares, the Bolivian foreign minister, who lobbied British authorities, Busch and other Bolivian nationals were eventually released and repatriated. (H333 B323)[ζ] Prior to his return, Busch married a niece of his, some forty years his junior, who accompanied him back to Bolivia. Unable to acclimatize to the tropical climate, she returned to Germany not long thereafter. No records have yet been found regarding the bride's name. (B323)
Busch spent his final years in Portachuelo. An avid reader, he continued to consume foreign magazines and maintained a sharp memory until his death on 3 May 1950. Hollweg states he died of pneumonia but Brockmann affirms that his family does not know the cause of death. (H333 B323) His remains are entombed in the Kyoto-Busch family mausoleum in La Paz. (Heinrich 50)
References
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ Busch emigrated to Bolivia when it was common practice for foreign nationals to Hispanicize their names. During return trips to Europe, Busch would revert to his given name.[1]
- ^ Descendants of the Busch Becerra line assert that Busch was one of seven siblings; those in the Busch Antelo line claim only four. "Only the [latter version] has concrete data", says Brockmann.[6]
- ^ Heinrich lists Busch attending universities in Magdeburg, Halle, and Leipzig.[9] Brockmann states that he studied in Hamburg and Berlin.[6] Hollweg claims he attended the "University of Berlin", without specifying which institution.[10] All three authors agree that he concluded his studies in Berlin.[11]
- ^ Details of Becerra's background and ancestry are muddled.[23] Several sources cite Santa Cruz de la Sierra as her birthplace, corroborated by Busch's will and testament.[22] Other documents claim she was born in Trinidad on 24 September 1874.[24] Contemporary biographer Carlos Montenegro traced Becerra's lineage to a criollo family that settled in Santa Cruz during the 17th century but cites no sources to back the claim.[25]
- ^ Sources vary widely on the dates and birthplaces of all of Busch's children, but Brockmann cites these as the most "consistent or supported" figures.[21] Hollweg lists Josefina as being born on 8 May 1894 in Santa Ana del Sécure; Bertha on 18 February 1896 in Villa Bella; Elisa on 23 January 1900 in San Javier; and Pablo on 27 November 1901 in San Javier.[27]
- ^ Sources differ on what year Busch was repatriated to Bolivia. Heinrich mentions 1946 as the year of his return.[9] Hollweg and Brockmann – citing the former – claim 1948.[33]
Footnotes
[edit]- ^ Brockmann 2017, pp. 22, 29.
- ^ Hollweg 1995, p. 330; Brockmann 2017, p. 20.
- ^ Brockmann 2017, pp. 19–20.
- ^ Brockmann 2017, p. 20.
- ^ Brockmann 2017, pp. 19, 21.
- ^ a b c Brockmann 2017, p. 21.
- ^ Hollweg 1995, p. 330; Brockmann 2017, pp. 21–22.
- ^ a b Brockmann 2017, p. 22.
- ^ a b c Heinrich 2005, p. 50.
- ^ a b c Hollweg 1995, p. 330.
- ^ Hollweg 1995, p. 330; Heinrich 2005, p. 50; Brockmann 2017, p. 21.
- ^ a b Hollweg 1995, p. 330; Heinrich 2005, p. 50.
- ^ Montenegro 2015, p. 51, "[Busch] recibió el título facultativo de médico y cirujano, casi no más que en plena adolescencia".
- ^ Hollweg 1995, p. 330; Heinrich 2005, p. 50; Brockmann 2017, p. 22.
- ^ Brockmann 2017, p. 23.
- ^ Hollweg 1995, pp. 244, 330–331; Brockmann 2017, p. 23.
- ^ Hollweg 1995, pp. 241–244; Heinrich 2005, p. 30.
- ^ Hollweg 1995, pp. 243–251.
- ^ Hollweg 1995, pp. 243, 331.
- ^ Brockmann 2017, pp. 23, 25.
- ^ a b Brockmann 2017, p. 25.
- ^ a b Hollweg 1995, p. 331; Brockmann 2017, p. 24.
- ^ Brockmann 2017, p. 24.
- ^ a b Lijerón Casanovas 2011, p. 20; Brockmann 2017, p. 24.
- ^ Brockmann 2017, pp. 24–25.
- ^ Lijerón Casanovas 2011, p. 20; Brockmann 2017, p. 25.
- ^ Hollweg 1995, p. 331.
- ^ Lijerón Casanovas 2011, p. 19; Pinto Cascán 2023, p. 101.
- ^ Brockmann 2017, p. 22, "[Pablo] Busch carecía de cariños para nadie y en general fue un mal padre y peor esposo".
- ^ Brockmann 2017, pp. 26, 38.
- ^ Brockmann 2017, p. 38, "La versión preservada por la familia es que Pablo 'vio una hermosa niña de 14 años, se enamoró locamente y dejó a [Becerra] y a sus hijos para irse con ella'".
- ^ Brockmann 2017, pp. 26, 38, 347.
- ^ Hollweg 1995, p. 333; Brockmann 2017, p. 323.
Works cited
[edit]Academic journals
- Lijerón Casanovas, Arnaldo (June 2011). "Tte. Gral. Germán Busch Becerra: La estirpe beniana del héroe legendario" [Lt. Gen. Germán Busch Becerra: The Benian Lineage of the Legendary Hero]. Fuentes (in Spanish). 5 (14). La Paz: 19–30. ISSN 1997-4485 – via SciELO.
- Pinto Cascán, Darwin (June 2023). "El origen del héroe: Germán Busch y su fundamentado nacimiento en Santa Cruz" [Origin of the Hero: Germán Busch and His Well-Founded Birth in Santa Cruz]. Aportes (34). Santa Cruz de la Sierra: 101–116. doi:10.56992/a.v1i34.414. ISSN 2306-8671. Archived from the original on 18 February 2024 – via SciELO.
Books and encyclopedias
- Brockmann, Robert (2017). Dos disparos al amanecer: Vida y muerte de Germán Busch (in Spanish) (2nd ed.). La Paz: Plural Editores. ISBN 978-99954-1-768-0. OCLC 1004307669.
- Heinrich Balcázar de Suárez, Delia (2005). Travesía de los inmigrantes alemanes al Beni (in Spanish). Trinidad. OCLC 172562190.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Hollweg, Mario Gabriel (1995). Alemanes en el Oriente boliviano: Su aporte al desarrollo de Bolivia (1534–1918) (in Spanish). Vol. I. Santa Cruz de la Sierra: Imprenta Ed. Sirena. OCLC 365239192.
- Hollweg, Mario Gabriel (1997). Alemanes en el Oriente boliviano: Su aporte al desarrollo de Bolivia (1918–1945) (in Spanish). Vol. II. Santa Cruz de la Sierra: Industrias Gráficas Sirena. OCLC 252831173.
- Montenegro, Carlos (2015). Baptista Gumucio, Mariano (ed.). Germán Busch y otras páginas de historia de Bolivia (in Spanish) (2nd ed.). La Paz: Librería Editorial LewyLibros.
External links
[edit]
Category:1867 births Category:1950 deaths Category:19th-century Bolivian businesspeople Category:19th-century German businesspeople Category:19th-century German physicians Category:19th-century explorers Category:19th-century surgeons Category:20th-century Bolivian businesspeople Category:20th-century German businesspeople Category:20th-century German physicians Category:20th-century explorers Category:20th-century surgeons Category:Businesspeople from the Kingdom of Prussia Category:Emigrants from the German Empire Category:Explorers from the German Empire Category:Explorers of South America Category:German expatriates in Bolivia Category:Parents of heads of state Category:Physicians from the Province of Saxony Category:Politicians from the Province of Saxony Category:Republican Party (Bolivia) politicians Category:Surgeons from the Kingdom of Prussia Category:World War II civilian prisoners held by the United Kingdom [[:Category:]]