Manuel Córdova-Rios, Date of Birth, Date of Death
TweetManuel Córdova-Rios
Peruvian herbalist and writer
Date of Birth: 
About Manuel Córdova-Rios
- Manuel Córdova-Rios (November 22, 1887 – November 22, 1978) was a vegetalista (herbalist) of the upper Amazon, and the subject of several popular books. The young mestizo joined a company that left Iquitos for the surrounding Amazon forest to cut rubber trees.
- He was apparently captured by a native tribe, among whom he then lived for seven years.
- The elderly chief taught him in intensive private sessions traditional knowledge, e.g., about medicinal plants of the jungle, and about leadership.
- From the tribe he learned hunting skills and acquired the name Ino Moxo (black jaguar).
- The chief also led group sessions using ayahuasca.
- After the chief's death, Córdova gave youthful leadership to the tribe for some years. He then returned to Peruvian life, raising a family.
- Eventually he became well known in the Amazon region for his success as a curandero (healer), by his skill in using the chief's herbal teachings. In the early 1960s he met an American forester, Bruce Lamb (1913–1993), who knew life in the Amazon.
- Lamb then wrote Córdoba's life story in Wizard of the Upper Amazon (1971), and about his healing arts in Rio Tigre and Beyond (1985).
- Both books sold well and drew academic interest, acclaim and controversy.
- Later, a Peruvian poet-novelist and an American poet published works focused on Córdoba.
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