Juan Bautista Azopardo-Native name Ġann Patist Azzopardi (Born 19 February 1772 in

Senglea Senglea ( mt, L-Isla ), also known by its title Città Invicta (or Civitas Invicta), is a fortified city in the South Eastern Region of Malta. It is one of the Three Cities in the Grand Harbour area, the other two being Cospicua and Vittorios ...

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

–Died 23 October 1848 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 ...

) was a Maltese

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

and military man who fought under the flags of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Early life

Juan Bautista Azopardo was born in Senglea, Malta, the son of Rosina (née Romano) and Salvatore Azopardo. As a young man he studied naval architecture at the French arsenal in

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

Privateer

Azopardo served with the French and the British fleets, the latter under the command of Admiral John Jervis. He captained the

tartane A tartane (also tartan, tartana) was a small ship used both as a fishing ship and for coastal trading in the Mediterranean. They were in use for over 300 years until the late 19th century. A tartane had a single mast on which was rigged a large la ...

s ''San Antonio'' and ''Anime del Porgatorio''. He later served as a privateer with a Letter of marque from the Netherlands, and then with a letter of marque from Spain against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Azopardo arrived in the

Río de La Plata The Río de la Plata (, "river of silver"), also called the River Plate or La Plata River in English, is the estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River at Punta Gorda. It empties into the Atlantic Ocean and fo ...

area in the first years of the 19th century. During the war between England and the

Batavian Republic The Batavian Republic ( nl, Bataafse Republiek; french: République Batave) was the successor state to the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on 19 January 1795 and ended on 5 June 1806, with the accession of Louis Bona ...

(the Netherlands), he served on the

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

''De Hoop'' and took part in the capture of the ship ''Neptune''. ''Neptune'' arrived at the port of

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 ...

as a prize on 21 January 1804; she was carrying 256 slaves. The prize master was the

Frenchman The French people (french: Français) are an ethnic group and nation primarily located in Western Europe that share a common French culture, history, and language, identified with the country of France. The French people, especially th ...

Hipólite Mordeille. Next, Azopardo served as second in command of the privateer ''Dromedario''. ''Dromedario'', with Mordeille, master, sailed with a letter of marque from Montevideo. She was armed with 22 guns and had a crew of 350 men under the command of Hipólito Mordeille, with Azorpardo as second captain.

British Invasions of Buenos Aires (1806 - 1807)

The frigate ''Dromedario'' transported some of the troops which fought against the first

British Invasion The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of British culture became popular in the United States and significant to the rising "counterculture" on b ...

(1806) of Buenos Aires. Along with his captain and the rest of the ''Dromedario'' crew, they fought in the final assault on the British position in Buenos Aires where the remnants of the British forces under general Beresford were. During the second British invasion (1807) of Buenos Aires they transported artillery pieces on the

Paraná River The Paraná River ( es, Río Paraná, links=no , pt, Rio Paraná, gn, Ysyry Parana) is a river in south-central South America, running through Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina for some ."Parana River". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Br ...

for the city's defense. For his valor and gallantry, the Spanish Royal government made him a Lieutenant Colonel of the urban militias. After the defeat of the British army, the Royal Navy enforced a blockade on the River Plate. This moved the Viceroyalty authorities to resort to privateers in order to harass British shipping. On 17 November 1806, in Buenos Aires,

Santiago de Liniers Santiago Antonio María de Liniers y Bremond, 1st Count of Buenos Aires, KOM, OM (July 25, 1753 – August 26, 1810) was a French officer in the Spanish military service, and a viceroy of the Spanish colonies of the Viceroyalty of the River ...

gave him a letter of marque for ''La Mosca de Buenos Aires'', of four guns and 60 men, built by Anselmo Saénz Valiente. On 1 June 1807, the ''Mosca de Buenos Aires'' outran ''Staunch'' and the brig as they chased her upriver. Later, two boats from the British warships attempted to seize ''Mosca de Buenos Aires'' in shallow waters. They failed, although they did manage to capture an enemy sloop. The letter of marque expired in 1808 whereupon Azopardo retired from privateering for the Spanish crown.

Argentine service

War of independence

Azopardo joined the revolutionary forces on the

May Revolution The May Revolution ( es, Revolución de Mayo) was a week-long series of events that took place from May 18 to 25, 1810, in Buenos Aires, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. This Spanish colony included roughly the terri ...

of 1810. He was given back the rank the Spanish viceroy had taken from him. After the poor results of the

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

campaign,

Manuel Belgrano Manuel José Joaquín del Corazón de Jesús Belgrano y González (3 June 1770 – 20 June 1820), usually referred to as Manuel Belgrano (), was an Argentine public servant, economist, lawyer, politician, journalist, and military leader. He ...

requested reinforcements from Buenos Aires in order to maintain his fight in the region. The Junta could not send them by land through

Entre Ríos Province Entre Ríos (, "Between Rivers") is a central province of Argentina, located in the Mesopotamia region. It borders the provinces of Buenos Aires (south), Corrientes (north) and Santa Fe (west), and Uruguay in the east. Its capital is Paraná ( ...

, as the rivers were controlled by the royalist navy under

Gaspar de Vigodet Gaspar de Vigodet (also called Gaspar de Bigodé) (1747–1834) was a Spanish military officer with French roots who served as last Royalist Governor of Montevideo. Biography De Vigodet participated in the Great Siege of Gibraltar in 1783 and f ...

. At the end of 1810 the government gave Lieutenant Colonel Azopardo, command of the first national navy, comprising three vessels, whose mission was to protect the advance of the reinforcements to Belgrano's force. The ships of this small squadron were the schooner ''Invencible'', the

brigantine A brigantine is a two-masted sailing vessel with a fully square-rigged foremast and at least two sails on the main mast: a square topsail and a gaff sail mainsail (behind the mast). The main mast is the second and taller of the two masts. Older ...

''25 de Mayo'' and the

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

''América''. His second in command was captain

Hipólito Bouchard Hippolyte or Hipólito Bouchard (15 January 1780 – 4 January 1837) was a French-born Argentine sailor and corsair who fought for Argentina, Chile, and Peru. During his first campaign as an Argentine corsair he attacked the Spanish colonies ...

. At the Battle of San Nicolás, on 2 March 1811, he was forced to confront a superior royalist navy with seven ships to his three. Azopardo was wounded and made prisoner, with his ships being captured. Belgrano would have to do without reinforcements and be forced to sign a document abandoning Paraguay. Imprisoned by the Spaniards, Azopardo was moved to

Ceuta Ceuta (, , ; ar, سَبْتَة, Sabtah) is a Spanish autonomous city on the north coast of Africa. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of several Spanish territorie ...

, where he shared a prison cell with the

Inca The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, (Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The admin ...

Juan Bautista Túpac Amaru. The revolution of General Riego (1820) ended with the liberals taking power in Spain, and ordering the freedom of all political prisoners. Azopardo returned to Argentina, where he was received as a hero. He was given the post of Buenos Aires Harbor Master.

War with Brazil

Returning to Buenos Aires he was given command of the brigantine ''General Belgrano'', as second in command to admiral

Guillermo Brown William Brown (also known in Spanish as Guillermo Brown or ''Almirante'' Brown) (22 June 1777 – 3 March 1857) was an Irish-born Argentine admiral. Brown's successes in the Argentine War of Independence, the Cisplatine War and the Anglo-Frenc ...

, to fight against the naval forces of

Pedro I of Brazil Don (honorific), Dom Pedro I (English: Peter I; 12 October 1798 – 24 September 1834), nicknamed "the Liberator", was the founder and List of monarchs of Brazil, first ruler of the Empire of Brazil. As King Dom Pedro IV, he List of ...

, who had declared war on Argentina at the end of 1825.

Final service

He returned to the post of Buenos Aires Harbor Master until 1826. On 3 February 1827 he requested and obtained his retirement.

Last years

He spent his last years with his wife Maria Sandalia Perez Rico and his son Luis Alberto. Juan Bautista Azopardo died on 23 October 1848 in Buenos Aires.

Legacy and honors

Columna con los restos de Juan Bautista Azopardo

Azopardo Monument

In the city of

San Nicolás de los Arroyos San Nicolás de los Arroyos (usually shortened to ''San Nicolás'') is a city in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, on the western shore of the Paraná River, from Rosario. It has about 133,000 inhabitants (). It is the administrative seat ...

, an

obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by Anc ...

with a height of , covered in

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

, was made with federal funds to pay homage to the Naval Battle of San Nicolás. Azopardo's remains are buried there.

Other memorials

Argentina * Several vessels of the

Argentine Navy The Argentine Navy (ARA; es, Armada de la República Argentina). This forms the basis for the navy's ship prefix "ARA". is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the ...

and

Argentine Coast Guard The Argentine Naval Prefecture ( es, Prefectura Naval Argentina or PNA) is a service of Argentina's Security Ministry charged with protecting the country's rivers and maritime territory. It therefore fulfills the functions of other countries' coa ...

carried his name: Transport / Tug Boat (1884), Tug Boat (1923), Frigate (1955), Coast Guard Cutter (1962), Coast Guard Cutter GC-25 (1983). * A

naval base A naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock. Ships may also undergo repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that u ...

( ''Arsenal Naval Azopardo'') in Azul, Buenos Aires province, is named after him. * A street in Buenos Aires is named after him. * Several schools in Argentina are named Azopardo. * Azopardo Point, in

Santa Cruz Province, Argentina Santa Cruz Province ( es, Provincia de Santa Cruz, , 'Holy Cross') is a province of Argentina, located in the southern part of the country, in Patagonia. It borders Chubut Province to the north, and Chile to the west and south, with an Atlantic c ...

. ** Azopardo Lighthouse, in Azopardo Point, Santa Cruz, Argentina. * Azopardo Rock, in

Chubut Province Chubut ( es, Provincia del Chubut, ; cy, Talaith Chubut) is a province in southern Argentina, situated between the 42nd parallel south (the border with Río Negro Province), the 46th parallel south (bordering Santa Cruz Province), the Andes ra ...

, Argentina. Malta * On 16 June 2001 a bust commemorating Azopardo was unveiled on Senglea's waterfront. * Part of the Senglea Marina was also named after him.