Geografía, raza y nación en la experiencia transatlántica de Agostino Codazzi

By reconstructing the experiences of Agostino Codazzi, an officer of the Napoleonic army in Italy exiled in Latin America, this article aims to highlight the Atlantic dimension of his life by underlining his role in the birth and development of geography as an essential discipline for the construction of the nation state on both sides of the Atlantic. The ethnic and social diversity, as well as political rather than cultural elements shared by the Italian exiles, cemented the ideas of a Republic inclusive of them. Thus, their Latin American experience was perceived as a model to be imitated by European countries.