Esperanza is a city in the center of the

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

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 cloc ...

. 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 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 Argentine province of Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous city in the country, and is also the most p ...

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 Fernando Paillet (27 October 1880 – 3 November 1967), was an Argentine photographer that portrayed the colonisation and life of the settlers in Esperanza, an agricultural colony founded in 1856 in Santa Fe Province (Argentina). Paillet defin ...

, photographer *

Gastón Gori Gastón Gori (1915–2004) 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, ...

, essayist, writer *

Eduardo Gudiño Kieffer Eduardo Gudiño Kieffer (November 2, 1935 – September 20, 2002) was an 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 mother side, ...

, 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 Cen ...

, politician *

José Pedroni José Bartholomew Pedroni Fantino (September 21, 1899 – 4 February 1968) was an Argentine poet. Biography José Pedroni was born in the city of Gálvez, Santa Fe province in Argentina. His parents were Gaspar Pedroni and Felisa Fantino. He ...

, 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 In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defe ...

, visual artist * Sebastian Spreng, visual artist * Matías Donnet, football player

References

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