![Recoleta 052](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/Recoleta_052.jpg)
Florencio Varela (23 February 1808 – 20 March 1848) was an
Argentine writer, poet, journalist and educator.
Florencio was 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 ...
on 23 February 1808, he was the sixth child of Don Jacobo Adrián Varela and María de la Encarnación Sanjinés, he had a keen interest in the literary arts from a young age. In his youth he wrote poetry and a theatre production.
After graduating from 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 1827 Varela became involved in politics, his association with the
Partido Unitario meant that he was exiled to
Montevideo in Uruguay after the defeat of General
Juan Lavalle
Juan Galo Lavalle (17 October 1797 – 9 October 1841) was an Argentine military and political figure.
Biography
Lavalle was born in Buenos Aires to María Mercedes González Bordallo and Manuel José Lavalle, general accountant of rents and t ...
.
Varela settled in Montevideo starting a family and associating with several other exile writers and intellectuals who opposed the rule of
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Juan Manuel de Rosas.
After suffering a heart condition Varela moved to
Río de Janeiro in Brazil where he recovered his health and worked on his history of Argentina. In 1842 he returned to Uruguay. In 1843 he travelled to Europe in order to garner British and French support to the project of a new state comprising
Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
, Rio Grande do Sul and some Argentine provinces. While in France, and like many other young travellers did, he met
José de San Martín
José Francisco de San Martín y Matorras (25 February 177817 August 1850), known simply as José de San Martín () or '' the Liberator of Argentina, Chile and Peru'', was an Argentine general and the primary leader of the southern and centr ...
.
On 1 October 1845 he founded the newspaper "Comercio del Plata" in Montevideo, he also founded the biblioteca de obras originales y traducidas (library of originals and translations). He became one of the fiercest critics of Governor Rosas. On 20 March 1848 he was assassinated by Andrés Cabrera, who was acting under the orders of
Manuel Oribe and Rosas. He is buried in
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.
External links
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Todo-Argentina profile*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Varela, Florencio
Unitarianists (Argentina)
Argentine journalists
Argentine male writers
Argentine librarians
People from Buenos Aires
1807 births
1848 deaths
Burials at La Recoleta Cemetery
19th-century journalists
Male journalists
19th-century male writers