Ignacio Jordán Claudio de Asso y del Río (June 4, 1742 - May 21, 1814) was a Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 diplomat

Diplomat

A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...

, naturalist

Naturalist

Naturalist may refer to:* Practitioner of natural history* Conservationist* Advocate of naturalism * Naturalist , autobiography-See also:* The American Naturalist, periodical* Naturalism...

, lawyer

Lawyer

A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

 and historian

Historian

A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...

. He sometimes used the pseudonym of Melchor de Azagra.

Of noble birth, he received an excellent education, studying Classical Greek and Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 in the college known as the Escuelas Pías of Zaragoza (1755) and philosophy under the Jesuits at the Real e Imperial Colegio de Nobles de Nuestra Señora y Santiago de Cordellas, located in Barcelona (1756). He studied at the university at Cervera

Cervera

Cervera is the capital of the comarca of Segarra, in the province of Lleida, Catalonia, Spain. The title Compte de Cervera is a courtesy title, formerly part of the Crown of Aragon, that has been revived for Felipe, Prince of Asturias....

, where he graduated with a bachelor of arts in 1760 and at the University of Zaragoza, where he studied jurisprudence

Jurisprudence

Jurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law. Scholars of jurisprudence, or legal theorists , hope to obtain a deeper understanding of the nature of law, of legal reasoning, legal systems and of legal institutions...

, graduating in 1764.

He worked as a jurist from 1765 to 1776 and traveled for three years across Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 and from 1771 to 1775 he published in Madrid

Madrid

Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

, collaboratively and also alone, a massive work on jurisprudence (Instituciones del Derecho Civil de Castilla, 1771; El Fuero Viejo de Castilla, 1771; El ordenamiento de leyes que D. Alfonso XI hizo en las cortes de Alcalá de Henares el año de mil trescientos y cuarenta y ocho, 1774).

In 1776, he began work as a diplomat and served as consul at Dunkirk (1776), consul general at Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

 (1776-1787) and consul at Bordeaux

Bordeaux

Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...

 (1787-1791). While a diplomat, he concerned himself with scientific and economic matters, and published in Amsterdam works on the botany, zoology, and mineralogy of Aragon

Aragon

Aragon is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza...

 (Synopsis estirpium indigenarum Aragoniae, 1779; Mantissa stirpium indigenarum Aragoniae, 1781; Introductio in oryctographiam, et zoologiam Aragoniae, 1784; Enumeratio stirpium in Aragonia noviter detectarum, 1784). He described for the first time the fish Argyrosomus regius

Argyrosomus regius

Argyrosomus regius is a fish of the Sciaenidae family. It has a similar form to a European seabass, with a pearly-silver coloration and a yellow-coloured mouth. Length can go from 40–50 cm up to 2 m long, with weights up to 55 kilograms.A...

and Salaria fluviatilis

Salaria fluviatilis

Freshwater blenny, Salaria fluviatilis, is a species of fish in the Blenniidae family. It is found in African rivers and brooks in Algeria and Morocco flowing to the Mediterranean Sea. In Europe it is widespread in the freshwaters of Albania, Croatia, France, Greece, Italy, Montenegro, Spain,...

.

He also translated and published the work of various Aragonese writers and poets of the medieval and early modern periods (Bibliotheca Arabico-Aragonensis, 1782; Joannis Sobrarii, Carmina, 1783; Clariorum Aragonensium monumenta in lucem prolata, 1786; Poesías Selectas de Martín Miguel Navarro Canónigo de Tarazona, 1781; Aganipe de los Cisnes Aragoneses Celebrados en el clarín de la fama, 1781).

Afterward, he served as chair of Chemistry and Botany of the Real Sociedad Económica Aragonesa (1797- 1802) and published various works on agriculture, botany, natural science, and literature.

During the first

Siege of Saragossa (1808)

The First Siege of Saragossa was a bloody struggle in the Peninsular War. A French army under General Jean-Antoine Verdier besieged, repeatedly stormed, and was repulsed from the Spanish city of Saragossa over the summer of 1808....

 and second

Siege of Saragossa (1809)

The Second Siege of Saragossa was the French capture of the Spanish city of Zaragoza during the Peninsular War.It is particularly noted for its brutality.-Prelude:...

 sieges of Zaragoza, he served as legal advisor to José Rebolledo de Palafox, 1st Duke of Saragossa, and assisted the Spanish resistance against Napoleon by contributing journalistic pieces to the Gazeta extraordinaria de Zaragoza.

After the fall of Zaragoza, he fled to Murviedro and then to Palma de Mallorca

Palma de Mallorca

Palma is the major city and port on the island of Majorca and capital city of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. The names Ciutat de Mallorca and Ciutat were used before the War of the Spanish Succession and are still used by people in Majorca. However, the official name...

. After the end of the French occupation, he was named regidor

Regidor

A Regidor is a member of a council of municipalities in Spain and Latin America. Portugal also used to have the same office of Regedor.-Mexico:...

of Zaragoza in January 1814, but was too old and infirm to occupy the post. He died three months later.