Juan Mencarini Pierotti

• Name — Juan Mencarini Pierotti • Born — 11 June 1860 • Birthplace — Alexandria, Egypt • Died — 29 April 1939 • Place of death — Manila, Philippines • Known for — Photography

In 1854, Juan Mencarini's father, Albino Mencarini (Viterbo, 1828 – steamer Oxus, Red Sea, 1886) became interpreter-chancellor at the Spanish consulate in Jerusalem and, in 1860, in Alexandria, where Juan was born from the marriage with Ida Pierotti. Albino obtained the Spanish nationality in 1862, in 1865 was appointed second-class consul at Cairo and, a year after, at Singapore. In 1878, with Albino's appointment as first-class consul at Hong Kong, the Mencarinis began their stay in China. Juan Mencarini was educated in Madrid and Singapore. In 1881, he was admitted at the Revenue Department of the Chinese Maritime Customs Service in Guangdong province, although he spent his first years at the Inspectorate General in Beijing studying Chinese. In the following years, as was usual practice at the Customs Service, Mencarini changed post in a number of occasions: Xiamen (1883), Tamsui (the port of present-day Taipei, 1884), Shanghai (1889), Fuzhou (1892), Xiamen (1896), Hankou (1900), Shanghai (1903) and again Xiamen (1907), gradually ascending rank from an initial position as 4th Assistant B to that of acting deputy Commissioner. Mencarini's Chinese name was 绵嘉义; pinyin: Mián jiāyì. • Illustration — Advertisement of Veedol oil, crediting Mencarini & Co. as "sole agents for Shanghai and Yangtsze ports". Published in Oriental Motor, vol. 2, no.3, June 1920 After voluntarily resigning from the Customs Service in 1912, Mencarini registered an import-export company, Mencarini & Co. (Chinese name 綿義 Mián yì) in Shanghai. Moreover, between 1912 and 1916 he acted as commercial attaché for the Spanish consulate in Shanghai. Over the following years, Mencarini is also credited in official records as owner or partner in different business: raw and manufactured cotton, gold (The National Trading Association Ltd.), real estate and finances (Staple, Wares, Real Estates & Stock Exchange Ltd.). Along with his wife Rosario Blanco Mendieta (they had married in Manila on 1 March 1886) and their large family, Mencarini abandoned China for good in 1923 and settled in Manila, where he worked as teacher of Chinese to the clerks of the Bureau of Internal Revenue and wrote a Chinese course-book. In Manila, Mencarini founded and presided the Philatelic Association of the Philippines (1925), becoming its honorary president and Life Technical Adviser in 1937. His interest in photography did not decrease, and on 19 August 1928 he took part in the foundation of the Camera Club of the Philippines. Juan Mencarini died in Manila on 29 April 1929.