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Mision Cientifica Croata and its role in the mapping of Latin America.

The Seljan brothers, Mirko and Stjepan, are the most well-known Croatian explorers who worked on the mapping of Latin America. Mirko (Karlovac/Croatia, 1871 - ?/Peru, 1913) and Stjepan (Karlovac/Croatia, 1875 – Ouro Preto/Brazil, 1936) were world known explorers who worked over many continents. After returning from an expedition in Africa where they were in the service of King Menelik, creating the first map of Ethiopia, thanks to the help of the Croatian emigrant society they went to Latin America in 1903 where they spent the rest of their lives researching and mapping. That same year the Seljan brothers established the “Mision Cientifica Croata” company for exploring and mapping and via this company they conducted numerous scientific-research expeditions throughout Latin America. Upon the request of the governments of Chile, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and Peru, from 1903 onwards the brothers carried out diverse explorations of the less known and less approachable areas of the Latin American hinterland and with the aim of organising a network of river navigation and the building of roads and railways which would connect the coastland with the hinterland. In 1903 upon the request of the Brazilian government, they explored and mapped the upper part of the Parana River and its tributaries (especially the Paranapanema River), including the waterfalls of Salto Grande (Salto dos Donrados). During 1904 upon the request of the governments of Paraguay and Argentina, they mapped the area between the rivers Paraguay and Parana and created the first precise maps of the waterfalls of Salto de Guayra and Saltos Iguacu. At the beginning of the 1905 they worked in Santiago and Valparaiso and then together with the Chilean physician Francisco Pammer, upon the request of the Brazilian government they explored the possibilities of transport connections between central Brazil and the Amazon in the area between Cuyaba and Santarem and they worked on mapping of the Amazon’s river mouth. Their last common expedition started in 1913 when upon the request of the Peruvian government they explored the possibilities of transport connections between the Peruvian Pacific coastland with the Amazon area. Whilst moving through the Peruvian rainforests, near Gran Pajaten, Mirko Seljan died under unclear circumstances. After that Stjepan Seljan retreated to Brazil where he searched for ores till the end of his life in 1936.

history of cartography; Mirko and Stjepan Seljan; exploration; Latin America; 20 Century

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