Matiak Seti
Matiak Seti | |
|---|---|
| Born | Matiak Seti May 7, 1892 |
| Died | August 9, 1959 (aged 67) |
| Nationality | Zacapine |
| Known for | Cihuacoatl Bridge Lake Seti Xaltozan Bridge]] |
Matiak Seti (7 May 1872 - 9 August 1955) was a famous Zacapine civil engineer and proponent of many notable public works projects. He is best known as the father of Zacapine utopian philosophy and one of the key founders of the Tlayacanque political party, making him one of the most notable historical figures of the Cochimí minority of northern Zacapican. Seti was heavily involved in many infrastructure projects during and after the Xolotecate era (1914-1938), personally designing several bridges and pieces of infrastructure, co-designing and campaigning for the plans of other engineers, and serving as one of the important figures of the Secretariat of Public Works in that era.
Early Life
Seti hailed from an moderately wealthy family of the rural and underdeveloped Ayomazaco region of northeastern Zacapican. The Seti family were accomplished cuacuauhpixqui cattlemen and had inhabited the region for generations, gradually accumulating wealth and standing within the local governments of the Aztapaman northern provinces. Matiak had been the third son of the family, and so was largely freed from assuming responsibility over the family enterprises in Tenamicalli and the outlying areas. Instead, he became interested in city planning and infrastructure as he had from a young age taken note of the underdeveloped nature of his home region and seen the potential to improve upon the buildings and infrastructure of his city and the surrounding lands. In 1908, when Matiak was 16, the Seti family would uproot from their native Ayomazaco in order to flee the ongoing Zacapine Revolution which had by that time devolved into a destructive civil war which had destroyed or threatened to destroy much of the family's holdings in Zacapican. The Setis arrived in (country) as refugees, albeit wealthy ones, as they had been able to liquidate a number of their remaining assets and draw upon their generational wealth to finance their relocation. Although this was a difficult process for the family, it would prove to be fortuitous for Matiak as it would enable the young Cochimí man from rural Zacapican to access a higher education that would have likely been unattainable for him under different circumstances.
In 1910, Matiak would be entered into (school) to be trained as a master builder and draftsman. As a student, Seti was noted to be enthusiastic but at times inattentive and prone to what his professors deemed to be flights of fancy. He would at times skip classes and neglect his studies to go on trips around his host country at the expense of his family's funds to tour the bridges, roads and railways, drawing sketches and street maps of towns and cities of all sizes. When this behavior came to be a detriment to his academic marks, Seti would be threatened by his father with withholding any further stipend until his schooling was completed. From that time forward, Seti became a model student virtually overnight, finishing the remainder of his training as a master builder in short order.
Career
Seti returned to his home country in 1916