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 wrote on a broad range of subjects in books and periodicals, including Catholicism, history, ethnography and geography.
Early years
Estanislao Severo Zeballos born in
Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina on 27 July 1854, the eldest son of Lieutenant Colonel Estanislao Zeballos and Felisa Juárez.
His father was an aide to General
Juan Pablo López, and was wounded in 1838 when fighting against the Indians.
In 1850, with the rank of major, his father became captain of Puerto de Rosario.
His father supported the Great Army of
Justo José de Urquiza
Justo José de Urquiza y García (; October 18, 1801 – April 11, 1870) was an Argentine general and politician who served as president of the Argentine Confederation from 1854 to 1860.
Life
Justo José de Urquiza y García was bo ...
in 1851, and was promoted to lieutenant colonel.
Zeballos senior served as Judge in Rosario in 1853, and was the first to name the streets of the city.
Both parents were related to established and influential families of Rosario, which helped in Estanislao's professional, social and political advancement.
His mother was from the families of
Ricardo López Jordán
Ricardo Ramón López Jordán (1822–1889) was an Argentine soldier and politician, one of the last influential "''caudillos''" (Spanish for "leaders", or military or political strongmen) in the history of Argentina. He thrice rebelled against ...
and
Francisco Ramírez.
During his youth Zeballos formed important social and political ties with the supporters of Urquiza, especially
Martín Ruiz Moreno, Urquiza's lawyer.
In his youth, he was accompanying his father near the post of
Arequito, Santa Fe
Arequito is a town (''comuna'') in the south of the province of Santa Fe, Argentina, southwest from the provincial capital and west of Rosario. It has a population of about 7,000 inhabitants as per the .
The town was founded initially as a ways ...
when they were attacked by a raiding party of
Ranquel people, but managed to escape at the gallop. He studied at the School of Arts and Crafts in his home town. Due to the mediation of Governor
Nicasio Oroño
Nicasio V. Oroño (July 20, 1825 in Coronda, Santa Fe – October 12, 1904 in Santa Fe) was an Argentine politician and lawyer, and governor of Santa Fe between 1865 and 1868.
Youth in the military
Oroño was born to Unitarian Coronel Santiago ...
,
at twelve years old he received a scholarship to continue his initial studies in the National College of
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
.
Between 1870 and 1871 the city was attacked by the scourge of
yellow fever
Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. ...
.
A People's Health Committee was set up, chaired by
José Camilo Paz.
Zeballos, then his student, helped him in transferring the bodies of victims. Zeballos contracted the disease but recovered.
Zeballos studied at the
University of Buenos Aires
The University of Buenos Aires ( es, Universidad de Buenos Aires, UBA) is a public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Established in 1821, it is the premier institution of higher learning in the country and one of the most prestigi ...
in the Faculties of Law and Science.
He led the student protests of 1871, caused by the suicide of the student Roberto Sánchez, who had unjustly been failed in an exam.
The protest led to major changes in the University's academic structure.
He was one of the founders of the "Revolutionary Junta for University Reform" along with
Pedro Narciso Arata,
Francisco Ramos Mejía,
José María Ramos Mejía,
Lucio Vicente López,
Juan Carlos Belgrano,
José María Cantilo,
Francisco B. Pico and others.
Zeballos was elected Secretary of the Board, of which Belgrano was president.
Zeballos graduated in law in 1874 and at once began to practice as a professor at the National College.
The same year, José Camilo Paz hired him as a reporter for the newspaper ''
La Prensa ''La Prensa'' ("The Press") is a frequently used name for newspapers in the Spanish-speaking world. It may refer to:
Argentina
* ''La Prensa'' (Buenos Aires)
* , a current publication of Caleta Olivia, Santa Cruz
Bolivia
* ''La Prensa'' (La Paz ...
'', to which he would be linked throughout his life, becoming its editor in chief and director. When on 24 September 1874 José C. Paz closed down ''La Prensa'' to join the revolution of 1874,
Zeballos joined him and was secretary of the campaign of
Bartolomé Mitre.
The revolution was defeated at the
Battle of La Verde, and he spent some time in prison.
Science and literature
![Estanislao S Zeballos](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Estanislao_S_Zeballos.jpg)
Pursuing his studies, in 1872 he participated in founding the "Society of Scientific Stimulus", which was soon converted to the "Scientific Society of Argentina".
He edited its review ''Anales'' and was one of its most active members.
To make ends meet while in Buenos Aires, for a time he was the writer for the German naturalist
Germán Burmeister
Germán () is a male given name in Spanish speaking countries. It is a cognate to French Germain, and is a variant of Latin Germanus.
Surname
* Domingo Germán (born 1992), baseball player
* Esteban Germán (born 1978), Dominican professio ...
, Director of the Public Museum.
In 1875, he presented to the Scientific Society of Argentina the project of forming the Museum of Natural Sciences.
A year before he had been excavated in the banks of the
Parana river, finding the remains of a giant sloth.
Two years later he published in collaboration with the engineer Pedro Pico a report on the pre-Hispanic mound of
Campana, Buenos Aires,
which started the systematization of archaeological research in the country.
He supported the expedition of
Francisco Pascasio Moreno
Francisco Pascasio Moreno (May 31, 1852 – November 22, 1919) was a prominent explorer and academic in Argentina, where he is usually referred to as ''Perito'' Moreno (''perito'' means "specialist, expert"). Perito Moreno has been credited as on ...
to explore the basins of the
Rio Negro and
Río Limay.
Years later he collected the information obtained, proposing the transfer of the southern border to the Río Negro in his book ''The Conquest of fifteen thousand leagues'', published in 1878. He wrote the book in a few weeks, at the request of General
Julio Argentino 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 ...
, to convince members of Congress to fund the
Conquest of the Desert
The Conquest of the Desert ( es, Conquista del desierto) was an Argentine military campaign directed mainly by General Julio Argentino Roca in the 1870s with the intention of establishing dominance over the Patagonian Desert, inhabited primar ...
which was already being started by the then minister of war. In ''La Conquista de quince mil leguas'' indigenous
Mapuche
The Mapuche ( (Mapuche & Spanish: )) are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who s ...
were presented as Chileans who were bound to return to Chile.
Mapuches were thus indirectly considered foreign enemies.
[ Such notion fitted well with the expansionist designs of ]Nicolás Avellaneda
Nicolás Remigio Aurelio Avellaneda Silva (3 October 1837 – 24 November 1885) was an Argentine politician and journalist, and President of Argentina from 1874 to 1880. Avellaneda's main projects while in office were banking and education ...
and Julio Argentino 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 ...
for Puelmapu
Puelmapu is the traditional Mapuche territory located east of the Andes. It covers much of Patagonia and the Pampas. Since the Conquest of the Desert (1878–1885) Puelmapu is ''de facto'' part of Argentina. It is a theater of the Mapuche conflict ...
, the Mapuche homeland in the Pampas and northern Patagonia.[ The notion of Mapuches as Chileans is however an anachronism as Mapuches precede the formation of the modern state of Chile.][
In 1879 he founded the "Argentine Geographic Institute", of which he was the first president.
He managed to obtain a subsidy to ]Florentino Ameghino
Florentino Ameghino (born Giovanni Battista Fiorino Giuseppe Ameghino September 19, 1853 – August 6, 1911) was an Argentine naturalist, paleontologist, anthropologist and zoologist, whose fossil discoveries on the Argentine Pampas, especially ...
to publish his studies of fossil mammals.
After the Roca campaign, in late 1879 he made a long journey to the north of Patagonia and recorded his observations ''Viaje al país de los araucanos'' (Journey to the country of the Araucanians), published in 1881. This was the first volume of a trilogy, followed by ''La Región del Trigo'' (The Region of Wheat) (1883) and ''A través de las cabañas'' (1888).
He then wrote a fictionalized chronicles of the chieftains Calfucurá and Painé, and a nonexistent Huiliche chieftain, Relmú.
National deputy
That same year Zeballos was elected provincial deputy in a list that included Bernardo de Irigoyen
Bernardo de Irigoyen (December 18, 1822 – December 27, 1906) was an Argentine lawyer, diplomat and politician.
Biography
Born in Buenos Aires, Irigoyen enrolled at the University of Buenos Aires and earned a ''juris doctor'' in 1843. He was ...
, Miguel Cané
Miguel Cané (27 January 1851 – 5 September 1905) was an Argentinian writer, lawyer, academic, journalist and politician.
Cané was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, where his family was exiled. He moved to Argentina at the age of two following th ...
, Lucio Vicente López, Miguel Goyena, Nicolás Calvo, Delfín Gallo, Luis Sáenz Peña
Luis Sáenz Peña Dávila (2 April 1822 – 4 December 1907) was a lawyer and President of Argentina. He was the father of president Roque Sáenz Peña.
*
Biography
Luis Saenz Peña was born on 2 April 1822 to Roque Julián Sáenz Peñ ...
, José C. Paz, Antonino Cambaceres and Hipólito Yrigoyen
Juan Hipólito del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús Yrigoyen (; 12 July 1852 – 3 July 1933) was an Argentine politician of the Radical Civic Union and two-time President of Argentina, who served his first term from 1916 to 1922 and his second ...
.
The next year he was elected national deputy, and during the revolution of 1880 he supported the administration of President Nicolás Avellaneda
Nicolás Remigio Aurelio Avellaneda Silva (3 October 1837 – 24 November 1885) was an Argentine politician and journalist, and President of Argentina from 1874 to 1880. Avellaneda's main projects while in office were banking and education ...
.
He supported General Eduardo Racedo in the battle of Puente Alsina on 20 and 21 June.
During his first term as national deputy Zeballos was the author of numerous initiatives: reform of the Code of Commerce and the law for establishing agricultural colonies,
wines, railways, building the Federal University of Rosario, Civil Marriage and many others.
At the end of his first term as national deputy, at the age of 30, he ran for governor of Santa Fe.
First he founded the Constitution Party, which nominated his candidacy in 1885, the year before the elections of 1886, during the government of Manuel María Zavalla.
A committee supporting his candidacy traveled to Buenos Aires to meet with President Roca.
Roca refused to give him support because at the national level Zeballos supported Bernardo de Irigoyen
Bernardo de Irigoyen (December 18, 1822 – December 27, 1906) was an Argentine lawyer, diplomat and politician.
Biography
Born in Buenos Aires, Irigoyen enrolled at the University of Buenos Aires and earned a ''juris doctor'' in 1843. He was ...
against Roca's candidate for president, Miguel Ángel Juárez Celman, who was elected. However, Zeballos was elected national deputy that year, 1886.
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In 1889, when Zeballos was Speaker of the House of Representatives, he was appointed Foreign Minister by President Juárez Celman.
Given the risk that the country was facing from boundary disputes with Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
, the new minister formed a special committee to acquire modern weapons in Europe.
It was headed by José C. Paz, then Minister to France, and one of its members later was General Pablo Ricchieri, who left a chronicle of his mission in Europe.
Zeballos resigned along with most of the Cabinet in April 1890 at the beginning of the crisis would lead to the Revolution of the Park
The Revolution of the Park (''Revolución del Parque''), also known as the Revolution of '90, was an uprising against the national government of Argentina that took place on July 26, 1890, and started with the takeover of the Buenos Aires Artille ...
later that year.
Zeballos was Foreign Minister again between October 1891 and October 1892, during the presidency of Carlos Pellegrini,
during which he rejected the claim from Britain for compensation for British nationals who had suffered damages during the revolution of 1890.
He also faced claims from France over the expulsion of a ship of that flag from Argentine territorial waters.
As a result, he signed a trade and navigation agreement with that country in 1892.
He presented several differences in interpretation of the boundary treaty of 1881 to the Chilean government.
He also performed decisively in the so-called Baltimore Incident, intervening in favor of the United States and against the Chilean government that succeeded the ousted President José Manuel Balmaceda
José Manuel Emiliano Balmaceda Fernández (; July 19, 1840 – September 19, 1891) served as the 10th President of Chile from September 18, 1886, to August 29, 1891. Balmaceda was part of the Castilian-Basque aristocracy in Chile. While he was ...
.
The following year he was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, but was diverted to the United States,
where he met with President Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...
for settlement of the boundary dispute with Brazil in Misiones Province
Misiones (, ''Missions'') is one of the 23 provinces of Argentina, located in the northeastern corner of the country in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by Paraguay to the northwest, Brazil to the north, east and south, and Corrientes ...
.
He left politics for several years, devoting himself to practice as a private attorney and a professor at the University of Buenos Aires
The University of Buenos Aires ( es, Universidad de Buenos Aires, UBA) is a public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Established in 1821, it is the premier institution of higher learning in the country and one of the most prestigi ...
.
In 1901 he became a member of the Board of History and Numismatics, now the National Academy of History of Argentina
The National Academy of History of the Argentine Republic ( es, Academia Nacional de la Historia de la República Argentina) is a non-profit learned society established to foster the study and dissemination of Argentine history.
Overview
Founded ...
.
New ministry
By 1905 Zeballos was again involved in diplomatic affairs after publishing an article entitled "The incident of the border with Chile and the Nueva and Picton Islands", referring to the sovereignty dispute over the Beagle Channel
Beagle Channel (; Yahgan: ''Onašaga'') is a strait in the Tierra del Fuego Archipelago, on the extreme southern tip of South America between Chile and Argentina. The channel separates the larger main island of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego f ...
.
In November 1906 he was appointed Foreign Minister by President José Figueroa Alcorta
José María Cornelio Figueroa Alcorta (November 20, 1860 – December 27, 1931) was an Argentine lawyer and politician, who managed to be the only person to head the three powers of the State: Vice President of the Nation (President of the ...
.
During his tenure he was devoted to countering the war propaganda of Brazil and trying to acquire weapons, especially warships, to prevent the outbreak war with that country.
He was accused of being in favor of armament.
In Brazil, Zeballos is generally thought to have planned an attack on that country in case of war, including the military occupation of Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...
.
He was also accused of having forged a document by José Paranhos, Baron of Rio Branco
José Maria da Silva Paranhos Júnior, Baron of Rio Branco (in Portuguese: ''Barão do Rio Branco'') (20 April 1845 – 10 February 1912) was a Brazilian noble, diplomat, geographer, historian, politician and professor, considered to be the "fat ...
, a prominent Brazilian diplomat.
His position of actively defending the boundaries of his country, a change from the negligent attitude of his predecessors,
was interpreted by Chile and Brazil as generating conflicts over boundaries that did not exist before.
In 1908 he temporarily assumed the ministries of Justice and Public Instruction, but a cabinet crisis forced him to resign from both positions in June 1908.
He then began a tour across the country to present to various audiences his views on Argentina's foreign policy, which lasted until the following year.
His collected speeches and articles appeared in the ''Journal of Law, History and Literature'' between 1908 and 1910 in a work entitled "Diplomacy Disarmed",
in which he defended the balance of military forces as a basis for peace and the guarantee of equitable justice in disputes.
Regarding the search for peace at any cost, he said:
At that time he also advocated:
National deputy again
He became a national deputy again from 1912 to 1916, and during this period he gave his most notable parliamentary performances.
During questioning of former Foreign Minister Luis María Drago
Luis María Drago ( - ) was an Argentine politician.
Born into a distinguished Argentine family in Buenos Aires, Drago began his career as a newspaper editor. Later, he served as a minister of foreign affairs (1902). At that time, when the UK, ...
and the current Foreign Minister José Luis Murature, whom he had opposed as a journalist, he finally persuaded the latter to accept his position.
During a debate on rediscount of bank portfolios, in July 1914, he said:
His parliamentary speech defending the rights of Argentines after the capture of the steamer "President Mitre" by Great Britain in 1915, was incorporated into the Daily Record of the House of Representatives of the United States, for its collection of legal doctrine on Public International Law.
Other projects that had significant impact were related to agriculture, irrigation, sanitary conveniences, meat trade, road construction and growth of shipping under the national flag.
Last years
In 1918 he was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Buenos Aires, where he was Professor of International Private Law for 24 years.
He systematized what he called the "Argentine Theory of Private Human Law", which was adopted by the International Law Association in 1922.
One of the original principles was the introduction of the extraterritoriality of the home in private affairs,
a policy that would have the serious consequence of giving foreign companies impunity in Latin America.
He presented his theory in a voluminous book written in 5 volumes in French, "La Nationalité au point de vue de la législation comparée et du Droit Privé humain".
At the age of 69 he traveled to the United States, invited by Harvard University to participate in a series of lectures that he gave in English.
They were published posthumously in 1927.
From the United States he traveled to England and died in Liverpool on 4 October 1923.
His remains lie in the cemetery of La Recoleta.
Works
He was a prolific writer, publishing books, articles, lectures, biographies and bibliographical notes, amounting to over 400 titles.
Some of them are:
* ''La conquista de 15.000 leguas'' (1878)
* ''Episodios en los territorios del sur'' (1879)
* ''Viaje al país de los araucanos'' (1881)
* ''Descripción amena de la República Argentina'' (1881)
* ''El Avance de la Frontera a los Andes'' (1883)
* ''Callvucurá y la dinastía de los piedra'' (1884)
* ''Painé y la dinastía de los zorros'' (1886)
* ''Relmú, reina de los pinares'' (1888)
* ''Los porteños''
* ''Los provincianos''
* ''Semblanza del ingeniero Carlos Pellegrini''
* ''Arbitration upon a part of the National Territory of Misiones, disputed by the United States of Brazil. Argentine evidence laid before the President of the United States of America by Estanislao S. Zeballos, envoy extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the Argentine Republic.'' (1893, S. Figueroa Printer, New York)
* ''Colección de papeles sobre el general San Martín'' (1898)
* ''El Escudo y los Colores nacionales'' (1900)
* ''Fracaso de la instrucción primaria'' (1908)
* ''El crédito y el régimen hipotecario de la República Argentina y en el Nuevo Mundo'' (en francés, 1909)
* ''La Nationalité au point de vue de la législation comparée et du Droit Privé humain'', 5 Vols., París, Sirey. (1914-1919).
He also wrote several biographies that have more literary than historical value, including those of Barón del Río Branco, Bartolomé Mitre, Julio Argentino 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 ...
, Domingo Faustino Sarmiento
Domingo Faustino Sarmiento (; born Domingo Faustino Fidel Valentín Sarmiento y Albarracín; 15 February 1811 – 11 September 1888) was an Argentine activist, intellectual, writer, statesman and the second President of Argentina. His writing s ...
, Martín Miguel de Güemes
Martín Miguel de Güemes (8 February 1785 – 17 June 1821) was a military leader and popular caudillo who defended northwestern Argentina from the Spain, Spanish royalist army during the Argentine War of Independence.
Biography
Güemes was bor ...
and Emilio Mitre
Emilio Mitre (5 January 1824, Carmen de Patagones – 24 December 1893) was an Argentine Lieutenant General who participated in the Paraguayan War. He was the brother of Bartolomé Mitre and participated across the Uruguayan Civil War and the Arg ...
, his friend since childhood. Among his numerous unpublished works are the manuscripts of an incomplete history of the War with Paraguay, drawing on official documents and on personal contributions from General Mitre, whom he met weekly for years.
Notes and references
Citations
Sources
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Further reading
*Etchepareborda, Roberto, "Homenaje a Estanislao Zeballos en el cincuentenario de su muerte. Su trayectoria vital y su labor historiográfica", en ''Boletín de la Academia Nacional de la Historia'', Buenos Aires, 1973
*Etchepareborda, Roberto, "Zeballos y la política exterior argentina", Editorial Pleamar, Buenos Aires, 1982.
*Parker, William Belmont, "Estanislao Zeballos"
Argentines of to-day
en ''Hispanic Notes & Monographs'', tomo V, The Hispanic Society Of America, Nueva York, 1920
*Preuss, Ori, "Transnational South America", Routledge: New York, 2016.
*Santiago Sanz, Luis, "Zeballos : el Tratado de 1881, Guerra del Pacífico : un discurso académico y seis estudios de historia diplomática", Editorial Pleamar, Buenos Aires, 1985.
*Sandra Fernández y Fernando Navarro, compiladores, "Scribere est agere. Estanislao Zeballos en la vorágine de la modernidad argentina", La Quinta Pata & Camino editores, Rosario, Argentina, 2011.
*Celada Domínguez, Gregoria y Giacalone, Rita
"Revista de Derecho, Historia Y Letras, (1898 - 1923), Estudio e Indice General"
Universidad del Salvador, Facultad de Filosofía, Historia y Letras, IUSHISTORIA, Nº 4 - Octubre de 2007, ISSN 1851-3522, Buenos Aires.
External links
* Perfil de Estanislao Zeballos escrito y publicado en 1886, en el periódico "El Nacional" de Buenos Aires.
The Internet archive
contiene varias obras importantes de Zeballos en formato facsimilar.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zeballos, Estanislao
1854 births
1923 deaths
People from Rosario, Santa Fe
19th-century Argentine lawyers
Presidents of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies
Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies elected in Santa Fe
Argentine writers in French
English-language writers from Argentina
Burials at La Recoleta Cemetery
Foreign ministers of Argentina