Juan de Cuéllar
Juan José Ruperto de Cuéllar y Villanueba (ca. 1739, probably Real Sitio de Aranjuez, Spain – 1801, Ilocos, Philippines) was a Spanish pharmacologist and botanist. From 1786 to 1797 he was the leader of a royal botanical expedition to the Philippines. Early life According to his biographer María Belén Bañas Llanos, Juan de Cuéllar was born in Aranjuez into a family employed in the care of plants in the royal gardens. His parents also ran a pharmacy. His father died when he was young, and his mother remarried, to a man the king had named regent of the pharmacy. When his mother also died (in 1760), he sold the olive groves that constituted his inheritance and moved to Madrid. In December 1760 he bought a pharmacy on Atocha Street in Madrid, and entered the Royal College of Pharmacists. After completing the course, he continued his association with the College in various important capacities – first secretary, general solicitor, fiscal, and second secretary, at different times. Around 1781 he was forced to give up his pharmacy for financial reasons. In 1783 and 1784 he attended classes at the Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid, in a program to impart scientific knowledge to