Esperanza is a city in the center of the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

of Santa Fe, Argentina. It had about 36,000 inhabitants at the and it is the head town of the

Las Colonias Department The Las Colonias Department (in Spanish, ''Departamento Las Colonias'') is an administrative subdivision (''departamento'') of the province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It is located in the center of the province. Starting from the east and going clock ...

. Esperanza is at the heart of the most important

dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...

district of the country (milk production is based on the Holando-Argentino breed). Cattle farming is also a major activity. Additionally it hosts many small and medium industries in a variety of sectors (wood, metal mechanics, food products, book printing, editorials, textile, leather, etc.).

History

Esperanza was the first formally organized agricultural colony in Argentina, formed by 200 families of

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

from Switzerland, Germany, France, Italy, Belgium and

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

who arrived during January and February 1856. The town was officially founded on 8 September 1856. The lands for each family in the colony had been set aside on 15 June 1853 by an agreement (the Agricultural Colonization Contract) between the government of Santa Fe and the entrepreneur Aarón Castellanos. The original name of the city was Colonia Esperanza, that is "Colony Hope". The city was the third one in the province to have a Municipal Council, after

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 ...

and Santa Fe, on 4 May 1861. It was declared the head town of its department in 1884. In 1892, it hosted the first Agricultural Congress of the Republic. In 1944, the national government decreed that September 8, the feast of the birth of the Virgin Mary (patron of Esperanza), was to be the National Day of the Agricultural Worker, and in 1979 Esperanza was declared permanent seat of the National Festival of Agriculture and National Agricultural Worker Day.

Notable natives

* Fernando Paillet, photographer * Gastón Gori, essayist, writer *

Eduardo Gudiño Kieffer Eduardo Gudiño Kieffer (November 2, 1935 – September 20, 2002) was an Argentina, Argentine writer. Biography Kieffer was born on November 2, 1935 in Esperanza, Santa Fe in Argentina. He was the son of writer Luis Gudiño Kramer. On his m ...

, writer and journalist *

Álvaro Alsogaray Álvaro Carlos Alsogaray (22 June 1913 – 1 April 2005) was an Argentine politician and economist. He was Minister of Economy and was the principal proponent of classical liberalism in Argentina. He founded the Union of the Democratic Centr ...

, politician * José Pedroni, poet and writer *

Aldo Tessio Aldo Emilio Tessio (October 28, 1909 – January 17, 2000) was an Argentine politician belonging to the Radical Civic Union (UCR). He served a Governor of Santa Fe Province from October 12, 1963, to June 28, 1966. Born in Esperanza, Santa Fe ...

, politician * Hector Borla, visual artist * Sebastian Spreng, visual artist *

Matías Donnet Matías Donnet (born 18 April 1980 in Esperanza, Santa Fe) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career With Boca Juniors he won the Intercontinental Cup 2003, the Copa Libertadores de América 200 ...

, football player

References

Municipality of Esperanza
- Official website. * * {{Authority control Populated places in Santa Fe Province