Esteban Adrogué (September 2, 1815 – 1903) was an Argentine citizen born in

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 ...

and founder of the city of

Adrogué Adrogué () is a city in Greater Buenos Aires, Argentina, located 23 km south of Buenos Aires. It is the administrative headquarters for Almirante Brown Partido (county). At slightly more than 30,000 inhabitants, it is a prominent residenti ...

in the southern part of Greater Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Early life

Son of Don José Ramón Adrogué and Doña Petrona Portela. His father, originally from

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

, Spain, was a merchant, activity that he would later develop, to reach a solid economical position. He dedicated his life to commerce and saved a good deal of money that would allow him to become a pioneer in the urbanization of the southern part of Greater Buenos Aires, Argentina. His enterprising and progressive spirit took him to worry about public works and participated in many of them. During his lifetime, he participated in the construction on the Alsina bridge, located over the

Matanza River The River The Matanza River is known by several names, including, in Spanish, Río de la Matanza ("the slaughter river" in English), Río Matanza ("slaughter river"), Río Mataderos ("slaughterhouses river"), Río de la Manzana ("the apple rive ...

, the electricity and gas-based lighting in

and the pavement on the streets.

Founder

By the middle of the 19th century, he was one of the founders of the city of

Lomas de Zamora Lomas de Zamora is a city in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, located south of the City of Buenos Aires and within the metropolitan area of Greater Buenos Aires. It is the capital of Lomas de Zamora Partido and has a population of 111,897 ...

, contributing also to the creation of the partido bearing the same name. In the 1870s he started the project that would make him famous, the foundation of the city of

, originally called Almirante Brown, and the foundation of the

Almirante Brown Partido Almirante Brown is a partido of the Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, located at the south of the Gran Buenos Aires urban area, at coordinates . It has an area of and 555,731 inhabitants (), and its capital is Adrogué. Name The partido is nam ...

. It was built as a fashionable area, safe from

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. ...

. Esteban Adrogué wanted the town that would bear his name to stand out from the others, so it possesses an original layout and numerous lush trees on the sidewalks, and was the summer resort of preference of the

porteño In Spanish, the term (feminine: ''Porteña'') means "port city person". It is used to refer to residents of port cities such as Buenos Aires, Argentina; El Puerto de Santa María, Spain; Valparaíso, Chile; Mazatlán, Veracruz, Acapulco and Tam ...

s aristocracy between 1872 and 1920. He was the owner of the Las Delicias hotel, formerly his own private residence, which accommodated several distinguished figures like

Jorge Luis Borges Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo (; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, as well as a key figure in Spanish-language and international literature. His best-known b ...

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 ...

Adolfo Bioy Casares Adolfo Bioy Casares (; 15 September 1914 – 8 March 1999) was an Argentine fiction writer, journalist, diarist, and translator. He was a friend and frequent collaborator with his fellow countryman Jorge Luis Borges. He is the author of the Fa ...

Silvina Ocampo Silvina Ocampo (28 July 1903 – 14 December 1993) was an Argentine short story writer, poet, and artist. Ocampo's friend and collaborator Jorge Luis Borges called Ocampo "one of the greatest poets in the Spanish language, whether on this side o ...

Victoria Ocampo Ramona Victoria Epifanía Rufina Ocampo (7 April 1890 – 27 January 1979) was an Argentine writer and intellectual. Best known as an advocate for others and as publisher of the literary magazine '' Sur'', she was also a writer and critic in he ...

and Carlos Pellegrini, among others. On April 12, 1837, he married Isidora Amestoy Arnais y Pinazo.

Death and legacy

Esteban Adrogué died in 1903. A monument in his honor is established in the square baring his name, located in the center of the city of Adrogué. His remains rest in the

La Recoleta Cemetery La Recoleta Cemetery ( es, Cementerio de la Recoleta) is a cemetery located in the Recoleta neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It contains the graves of notable people, including Eva Perón, presidents of Argentina, Nobel Prize winners, ...

, in Buenos Aires.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adrogue Argentine people of Spanish descent People from Buenos Aires 1815 births 1903 deaths Burials at La Recoleta Cemetery Patrician families of Buenos Aires