La formación intelectual de Joaquín Acosta y el Compendio histórico del descubrimiento y colonización de la Nueva Granada (1848)

this article examines the process of creation of the compendio histórico del descubrimiento y colonización de la nueva granada en el siglo decimosexto (historical compendium of the discovery and colonization of new granada in the sixteenth century), published in paris in 1848 by joaquín acosta, a politician, intellectual and scientist born in new granada. after establishing the author 's socio-cultural and political context, notably the educated circles he was involved with in europe, the article goes on to suggest that the compendio is a patriotic project of knowledge, undertaken by private initiative at a time when the stability of the republic was threatened by internal and external forces. the article argues that acosta 's main contribution to the construction of a national historical memory is the representation of a "chibcha civilization", comparable in grandeur to the ancient civilizations of mexico and peru.