Francisco José Debali (26 July 1791 – 13 January 1859), born Debály Ferenc József, was a Hungarian-born composer who emigrated to Uruguay in 1838. He authored the

national anthem of Uruguay The "" (), also known by its incipit "Orientales, la Patria o la Tumba" (), is the longest national anthem in terms of duration with 105 bars of music. When performed in its entirety, the anthem lasts about four-and-a-half to six minutes, altho ...

and, possibly, the tune to '' Paraguayos, República o Muerte'', which became the Paraguayan anthem. (See National Anthem of Uruguay#Music.)

Name

As ethnic Hungarian, his original Eastern order name was Debály Ferenc József. His Christian names were later in Uruguay translated into the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

version, but his surname is known to be spelled as Debali, de Bali, Debáli, Debály and Debally. Debály Ferenc József

Life

He was an Austrian subject born in

Oltenia Oltenia (, also called Lesser Wallachia in antiquated versions, with the alternative Latin names ''Wallachia Minor'', ''Wallachia Alutana'', ''Wallachia Caesarea'' between 1718 and 1739) is a historical province and geographical region of Romania ...

("Lesser Wallachia").This place is given b
''Magyar múlt Dél-Amerikában, 1519-1900''
by László Szabó (Európa, 1982), quoting from Debali's emigration document. This seems to be a Hungarian name of a place that lies now in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

and is known by a Romanian name. The Hungarian original gives "Oláhország" as the administrative region in which this place is located. Oláhország is nowadays often used in Hungarian synonymously with "Havasalföld", meaning

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and so ...

. Havasalföld means "Snowy Mountains" (

Muntenia Muntenia (, also known in English as Greater Wallachia) is a historical region of Romania, part of Wallachia (also, sometimes considered Wallachia proper, as ''Muntenia'', ''Țara Românească'', and the seldom used ''Valahia'' are synonyms in R ...

), and Oláhország means "Land near the Olt river" (Oltenia), the two regions which make up

. It has been suggested to identify "Kinséen" as either

Chinteni Chinteni ( hu, Kajántó; german: Kallentau) is a commune in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of nine villages: Chinteni, Deușu (''Diós''), Feiurdeni (''Fejérd''), Măcicașu (''Magyarmacskás''), Pădureni (''Fejérdi fogadók ...

, which has a similar pronunciation, but lies in

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

, the region which lies north of Oltenia; or

Câineni Câineni is a commune located in Vâlcea County, Oltenia, Romania. It is composed of six villages: Câinenii Mari, Câinenii Mici (the commune centre), Greblești, Priloage, Râu Vadului, and Robești. Natives * Cecilia Cuțescu-Storck * Emilia V ...

Vâlcea County Vâlcea County (also spelt ''Vîlcea''; ) is a county ( județ) of Romania. Located in the historical regions of Oltenia and Muntenia (which are separated by the Olt River), it is also part of the wider Wallachia region. Its capital city is Râm ...

, which actually lies in Oltenia; but no source confirming either of these places has been found yet. Many other sources state "Kinnen" or "Kineen" as birthplace which seems to be an approximate Hungarian phonetic transcription of the Romanian name of Câineni. He played the

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. A ...

. In 1820, he went abroad to pursue his musical career in the

Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...

. There, in

Alessandria Alessandria (; pms, Lissandria ) is a city and ''comune'' in Piedmont, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Alessandria. The city is sited on the alluvial plain between the Tanaro and the Bormida rivers, about east of Turin. Alessandria ...

, he married Magdalena Bagnasco, from

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

. They had several children, some of which were born in Uruguay. After a short stay at

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, from which he departed due to a

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. In ...

epidemic, he arrived in Uruguay in 1838. Here he was the director of the orchestra at the ''Sala de Comedias'' in

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

from 1841-48.

National Anthem of Uruguay

In 1845 he composed what would be adopted three years later as the Uruguayan national anthem, to a text by

Francisco Acuña de Figueroa Francisco Esteban Acuña de Figueroa (September 3, 1791 – October 6, 1862) was a Uruguayan poet and writer. He was born in Montevideo, on September 3, 1791 and died on October 6, 1862. He was the son of the Treasurer of the Royal Treasury, Jac ...

. It was played for the first time in public on July 19, 1845. Fernando Quijano, his assistant, who had submitted the composition to the government's selecting contest, was credited with the authorship because of Debali's failure to grasp the content, in the Spanish language, of the governmental decree that adopted his composition as the country's anthem.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Debali, Francisco José Hungarian composers Hungarian male composers Hungarian conductors (music) Male conductors (music) Uruguayan composers Male composers Uruguayan music Hungarian emigrants to Uruguay National anthem writers 1791 births 1859 deaths Uruguayan people of Hungarian descent 19th-century male musicians