Carlos Sylvestre Begnis (30 August 1903 – 22 September 1980) was a medical doctor and politician, born in Alto Grande, a village near

Bell Ville Bell Ville is a city in center-south of the provinces of Argentina, province of Córdoba Province (Argentina), Córdoba, Argentina, located 200 km southeast from the capital Córdoba, Argentina, Córdoba City, on the intersection of National ...

, Córdoba province in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. He was a rural physician and worked as a

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

in hospitals of the city of

Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous ci ...

, province of Santa Fe. He entered politics through the

Radical Civic Union The Radical Civic Union ( es, Unión Cívica Radical, UCR) is a centrist and social-liberal political party in Argentina. It has been ideologically heterogeneous, ranging from social liberalism to social democracy. The UCR is a member of the So ...

. In 1958 he was elected governor of Santa Fe, following a period of ''de facto'' military rule (after the

Revolución Libertadora ''Revolución Libertadora'' (; ''Liberating Revolution'') was the coup d'état that ended the second presidential term of Juan Perón in Argentina, on 16 September 1955. Background President Perón was first elected in 1946. In 1949, a ...

, which had ousted president

Juan Perón Juan Domingo Perón (, , ; 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine Army general and politician. After serving in several government positions, including Minister of Labour and Vice President of a military dictatorship, he was elected P ...

three years before). He became a part of the Intransigent Radical Civic Union (UCRI), and then formed part of the leadership of the Movement for Integration and Development (MID). His term was ended by a

federal intervention Federal intervention () is a power attributed to the federal government of Argentina, by which it takes control of a province in certain extreme cases. Intervention is declared by the President with the assent of the National Congress. Article 6 ...

. In the 1970s, Sylvestre Begnis moved to the

Justicialist Party The Justicialist Party ( es, Partido Justicialista, ; abbr. PJ) is a major political party in Argentina, and the largest branch within Peronism. Current president Alberto Fernández belongs to the Justicialist Party (and has, since 2021, served ...

(Peronism), and was elected governor again in 1973 (Argentina had just emerged from seven years of military dictatorship). The

Hernandarias Subfluvial Tunnel Hernandarias may refer to: * Hernando Arias de Saavedra, the first South American governor born in the Americas * Hernandarias District Hernandarias is a district and city of the Alto Paraná Department, Paraguay. It was named after Hernando A ...

, which joins Santa Fe and Entre Ríos under the

Paraná River The Paraná River ( es, Río Paraná, links=no , pt, Rio Paraná, gn, Ysyry Parana) is a river in south-central South America, running through Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina for some ."Parana River". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Br ...

, was built during his administration, and then officially renamed after him and Entre Ríos governor Raúl Uranga. The

Brigadier Estanislao López Highway The Brigadier Estanislao López Highway (AP 01) is a highway in the Argentine province of Santa Fe, linking the provincial capital Santa Fe and the city of Rosario. It runs north–south for 157 km (91 mi), roughly parallel to Nationa ...

, linking Rosario and Santa Fe (the two largest cities in the province), was also built at this time. Sylvestre Begnis followed the policies of '' desarrollismo'', sponsored by the national government of president

Arturo Frondizi Arturo Frondizi Ércoli (October 28, 1908 – April 18, 1995) was an Argentines, Argentine lawyer, journalist, teacher and politician, who was elected President of Argentina and ruled between May 1, 1958 and March 29, 1962, when he was over ...

, devoting a large share of the provincial budget to public works (schools, roads, electric power lines, hydraulic works). Sylvestre Begnis again could not complete his term, being removed from office in 1976 as a result of the military coup that started the dictatorship of the

National Reorganization Process The National Reorganization Process (Spanish: ''Proceso de Reorganización Nacional'', often simply ''el Proceso'', "the Process") was the military dictatorship that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983, in which it was supported by the United Sta ...

. He died of acute

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

in 1980, at the age of 77. His son Juan Héctor, also a politician, was a candidate for vice governor and served the Justicialist government of

Jorge Obeid Jorge Alberto Obeid (24 November 1947 – 28 January 2014) was an Argentine Justicialist Party (PJ) politician who was twice governor of Santa Fe Province and member of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies. Early life and education Obeid was born i ...

as Minister of Health, and is a national deputy for the

Front for Victory The Front for Victory ( es, Frente para la Victoria, FPV) was a centre-left Peronist electoral alliance in Argentina, and is formally a faction of the Justicialist Party. Former presidents Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner wer ...

. He chairs the Health Committee of the

Argentine Chamber of Deputies The Chamber of Deputies ( es, Cámara de Diputados de la Nación), officially the Honorable Chamber of Deputies of the Argentine Nation, is the lower house of the Argentine National Congress ( es, Congreso de la Nación). It is made up of 257 ...

. In 2007 he campaigned to be mayor of Rosario.

Sources

Homage to Sylvestre Begnis.
* La Capital. 21 September 2003
'' Sylvestre Begnis: ¿el mejor gobernador de la provincia?''
* La Capital. 28 August 2005
Excerpt
of the biographical book ''Carlos Sylvestre Begnis'', by Miguel de Marco Jr. Governors of Santa Fe Province Radical Civic Union politicians Justicialist Party politicians 1903 births 1980 deaths People from Córdoba Province, Argentina {{Argentina-politician-stub