Ernesto Carlos Tornquist (31 December 1842 – 17 June 1908) was an

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

entrepreneur and businessman, considered to be one of the most important entrepreneurs in Argentina at the end of the 19th century. The diversified business empire he created played a key role in helping to link Argentina with the trading and financial systems of the first world.Ernesto Tornquist: historia de un visionario
on MasIndustrias.com.ar Tornquist also founded the Tornquist Bank (''Banco de Tornquist''), the

Plaza Hotel Buenos Aires The Plaza Hotel Buenos Aires is a five-star hotel located in the Retiro district, just steps from Calle Florida shopping area and overlooking the Plaza San Martín. Overview The Plaza was originally developed by local landowner and banker Erne ...

,Plaza Hotel Buenos Aires
on GCBA the partido of Tornquist and Tornquist its main city, in the south of

Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of th ...

.Tornquist
on Suteba websiteLa ciudad de Tornquist cumple 137 años de su fundación
by Arnaldo Botto - 17 Apr 2020 on ''Noticias Radio Reflejos''

Biography

Born in Buenos Aires in 1842, Ernesto Tornquist was the seventh son of George Tornquist (1801-1876), a Lutheran born in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...

, United States and whose parents came from a German family in the city of Hamburg with roots in

Karlskrona Karlskrona (, , ) is a locality and the seat of Karlskrona Municipality, Blekinge County, Sweden with a population of 66,675 in 2018. It is also the capital of Blekinge County. Karlskrona is known as Sweden's only baroque city and is host to Swed ...

in Sweden. The father was consul of the city of

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

, Uruguay, and was an importer and property investor in Buenos Aires. His mother, Rosa Camusso Alsina, a Catholic, was born in Buenos Aires in 1805 and died there of yellow fever in 1871. Edificio Tornquist 1927

Tornquist started his schooling at Escuela Evangélica Alemana and in 1856 was sent to study in Germany in the city of Krefeld for two years. On his return to Argentina he took up a job working for a company directed by his brother-in-law which exported wool and leather and

import An import is the receiving country in an export from the sending country. Importation and exportation are the defining financial transactions of international trade. In international trade, the importation and exportation of goods are limited ...

ed agricultural machinery. In 1872 he married his niece, Rosa Altgelt Tornquist in Buenos Aires, and in 1874 took over the running of his brother-in-law's company which was now renamed, ''Ernesto Tornquist y Cia''. With the help of Belgium capital the company diversified its activities to include investment in the sugar, meat-salting and cold-storage industries. The company also invested in railways and acquired land in the provinces of Santa Fe and Entre Rios, previously occupied by Indians. In the 1880s he set up a large sugar refinery, ''Refineria Argentina'', in

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 ...

. Other initiatives included founding the ''Palermo'' brewery, the ''Seeber''

margarine Margarine (, also , ) is a spread used for flavoring, baking, and cooking. It is most often used as a substitute for butter. Although originally made from animal fats, most margarine consumed today is made from vegetable oil. The spread was orig ...

manufacturer and the ''Bianchetti''

scale Scale or scales may refer to: Mathematics * Scale (descriptive set theory), an object defined on a set of points * Scale (ratio), the ratio of a linear dimension of a model to the corresponding dimension of the original * Scale factor, a number ...

manufacturer. On 17 April 1883 he founded Tornquist, the main city of Tornquist Partido, in the south of Buenos Aires Province. From the beginning the town was organized as an agricultural colony for German and Volga German immigrants. After the economic crisis of 1890 he took charge of organizing the recovery of the company ''Sansinena'' and its cold-storage plant ''La Negra'' in Riachuelo and set up the plant ''Cuartreros'' in

Bahía Blanca Bahía Blanca (; English: White Bay) is a city in the southwest of the provinces of Argentina, province of Buenos Aires Province, Buenos Aires, Argentina, by the Atlantic Ocean, and is the seat of government of the Bahía Blanca Partido. It had 3 ...

. Amongst other activities the Tornquist group organised the hunting of whales (not controversial in those days) around the

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through the ''Compañía Argentina de Pesca'', oil exploration in Mendoza, the exploitation of quebracho in

Santiago del Estero Santiago del Estero (, Spanish for ''Saint-James-Upon-The-Lagoon'') is the capital of Santiago del Estero Province in northern Argentina. It has a population of 252,192 inhabitants, () making it the twelfth largest city in the country, with a surf ...

and the construction of the Ferrocarril del Norte de Santa Fe with the help of Belgium capital. Hall of the Plaza Hotel c. 1910. The hotel was commissioned by Tornquist to German architect Alfredo Zucker Ernesto Tornquist played a crucial role in helping to avoid a war between Argentina and Chile in 1902 by managing the British mediation in the border dispute, and by strongly opposing the bellicose Foreign Minister

Estanislao Zeballos Estanislao Severo Zeballos (27 July 1854 - 4 October 1923) was an Argentine lawyer and politician who was Minister of Foreign Affairs of his country three times. He was one of the most prominent intellectuals and politicians of his time. He wr ...

. He represented the German armaments group

Krupp The Krupp family (see pronunciation), a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, is notable for its production of steel, artillery, ammunition and other armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG (Friedrich Krup ...

in Buenos Aires where he organised a strong lobby for the armaments industry, whilst on the other hand he helped to resolve a conflict with Brazil. In 1903 he built the estancia, ''Sierra de la Ventana'', in Tornquist, designed by the German immigrant architect Carlos Nordmann in Gothic style typical of German castles in the

Rhine Valley ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , source ...

. The grounds were designed by the French immigrant landscape architect,

Carlos Thays Carlos Thays (August 20, 1849 – January 31, 1934)Biog ...

. He maintained a close friendship with Argentine presidents

Julio A. Roca Alejo Julio Argentino Roca Paz (July 17, 1843 – October 19, 1914) was an army general and statesman who served as President of Argentina from 1880 to 1886 and from 1898 to 1904. Roca is the most important representative of the Generation ...

and

Carlos Pellegrini Carlos Enrique José Pellegrini Bevans (October 11, 1846 – July 17, 1906) was Vice President of Argentina and became President of Argentina from August 6, 1890 to October 12, 1892, upon Miguel Ángel Juárez Celman's resignation (see Rev ...

and tenaciously opposed the militaristic plans of the War Minister Estanislao Zeballos during the presidency of José Figueroa Alcorta (1906-1910). He died in 1908 in Buenos Aires and since 1980 his remains are buried in the local church in the town of Tornquist. He built the

, which opened one year after his death, in 1909.Ernesto Tornquist: un imperio en las pampas
on ''La Nueva'' (Bahía Blanca). 30 Apr 2022 Designed by the German architect Alfredo Zucker, it is located on Florida street, overlooking Plaza San Martin.

Bibliography

* ''Ernesto Tornquist'', por Fernando M. Madero, en Gustavo Ferrari y Ezequiel Gallo, (comp.), La Argentina del Ochenta al Centenario, Buenos Aires, Sudamericana, 1980, pp. 628–631 y 634–637. * Scandizzo, Delfor Reinaldo: ''El gringo Pellegrini'', Ed. Corregiodor, Buenos Aires. Agosto 1997. * Altgelt, Carlos A. y Acuña, María Florencia . "El ancho camino se bifurca" La descendencia de Adam Altgelt y Laura Tornquist a 150 años de su casamiento - Edición Privada 2003 - Volumen en la Biblioteca Ernesto Tornquist del Banco Central de RA. * Del Solar. Alberto - "Don Ernesto Tornquist y Los Pactos con Chile" (Datos para la Historia) -Diario La Nacion, 20 de junio de 1908. * Floria, Carlos A. y García Belsunce, César A. - "Historia política de la Argentina contemporánea 1880-1983 - Alianza Universidad - 1992. * Yuyú Guzmáúún, ''Un castillo gótico alemán en medio del pasaje serrano'', Diario La Nación, 23 July 2005.

References

External links

*
''La pugna Tornquist-Zeballos'', Historia General de las Relaciones Exteriores de Argentina, CEMA, 2000

''Ernesto Tornquist: Making a Fortune on the Pampas'', Harvard Business Publishing, May 1, 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tornquist, Ernesto Argentine businesspeople 1842 births 1908 deaths Argentine people of German descent Argentine people of Swedish descent Burials at La Recoleta Cemetery