Abstract

Gerardo Botero Arango was a multifaceted man: his unusual personality combined the naturalist, the educator, the geologist, the industry man.

In each of these facets, he was remarkable. His personality corresponds to that of the sage in the sense in which this word has been taken for generations and which the specialization and complexities of our time have been responsible for modifying.

Unfortunately, we lack a sense of history and a true appreciation for our illustrious men. As soon as they disappear from our physical environment, an accelerated process of forgetting their person, achievements, and scientific and cultural legacy begins.

Therefore, these simple lines have a sense of justice, in that through them, we leave a written testimony about the transcendence of a great man like Gerardo Botero.

He was born on February 27, 1911, in a country house near Envigado, Antioquia. Another wise naturalist, Dr. Manuel Uribe Angel, had been born there at the beginning of the century, a circumstance that should not be coincidental. The bucolic nature of that place would have something to do with the spirit of love towards nature that later would mark the lives of these great men of our culture.