González, Melitón

Melitón González (1837 - 1913) was an Uruguayan surveyor, administrator and author. He was born in Montevideo, but little else is known of his education or early life. He was appointed Director of Public Works in 1876, and between 1906 and 1913 he served as Director of the Topography Section of that Ministry. He also served as secretary of the Uruguayan legation in London - a position which led him into controversy. He leveled charges of corruption at the head of the legation, who was negotiating contracts for the construction of the new Port of Montevideo. For his troubles, he stood accused of treason. We do not see the result of this turmoil, but it cannot have lasted long as González's work continued quite unabated. In addition to his labor for Uruguay, he also produced important cartographic work for the Argentine Republic, where he served as Chief of Public Works of the Province of Entre Ríos, of which he drew a complete map, as well as the current province of Chaco. He published influential texts for geodesists and surveyors in 1877 and 1909. On the occasion of his work in the provinces of northern Argentina, he also wrote in 1887 a article on the Eastern limits of the territory of the Misiones (the portion of Argentina lying between Uruguay and Paraguay). In 1890 he wrote a volume, in connection with the Argentine Institute of Geography, El Gran Chaco Argentino - a description of the disputed western portion of the Rio de la Plata basin, much of which was established as part of Argentina following the War of the Triple Alliance. In 1879, Gonzalez appeared in a conference at the Rural Association of Uruguay. He produced a monumental map of Uruguay 'according to the most reliable documents and background and the work carried out by the author' which was published by Uruguay's Ministry of Development in 1900.