Juan José Esteban Paso, (January 2, 1758,

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 ...

– September 10, 1833) was an Argentine politician who participated in the events that started the Argentine War of Independence known as

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.

Biography

Early life

Juan José Paso is the son of Domingo de Passo. Domingo left Spain and moved to Buenos Aires in 1750. He worked as a baker; Buenos Aires had a scarce production of bread at the time. Domingo got married with María Manuela Fernández Escandón on March 8, 1755. Domingo became a ''

vecino 'Vecino' means either "neighbour" or resident in modern Spanish. Historically in the Spanish Empire it referred instead to a householder of considerable social position in a town or a city, and was similar to "freeman" or "freeholder." Histori ...

'' after his marriage. Their son Juan José Esteban Paso was born on January 2, 1758, and baptized five days later. The place of Paso's initial education is unknown, but it was not the Real Colegio San Carlos, as he is not among its recorded list of students. Paso studied at the University of Córdoba and graduated in Theology in 1779. Back in Buenos Aires, he was named professor of philosophy at the Colegio Real de San Carlos (Royal School of San Carlos). In 1783 he moved to the

Upper Peru Upper Peru (; ) is a name for the land that was governed by the Real Audiencia of Charcas. The name originated in Buenos Aires towards the end of the 18th century after the Audiencia of Charcas was transferred from the Viceroyalty of Peru to th ...

and studied law in the University of Chuquisaca; only to return to Buenos Aires as a lawyer in 1803. After the

British invasions of the Río de la Plata The British invasions of the River Plate were two unsuccessful British attempts to seize control of areas in the Spanish colony of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata that were located around the Río de la Plata in South America – in p ...

he pursued a political career as a revolutionary leader moved by the new national identity that was growing among the '

criollos In Hispanic America, criollo () is a term used originally to describe people of Spanish descent born in the colonies. In different Latin American countries the word has come to have different meanings, sometimes referring to the local-born majo ...

'. Like many other nineteenth century Argentines prominent in public life, he was a freemason.The list includes

Juan Bautista Alberdi Juan Bautista Alberdi (August 29, 1810 – June 19, 1884) was an Argentine political theorist and diplomat. Although he lived most of his life in exile in Montevideo, Uruguay and in Chile, he influenced the content of the Constitution of Arg ...

Manuel Alberti Manuel Máximiliano Alberti (28 May 1763 – 31 January 1811) was an Argentine priest from Buenos Aires, when the city was part of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. He had a curacy at Maldonado, Uruguay during the British invasions of the ...

Carlos María de Alvear Carlos María de Alvear (October 25, 1789 in Santo Ángel, Rio Grande do Sul – November 3, 1852 in New York), was an Argentine soldier and statesman, Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata in 1815. Early life H ...

Miguel de Azcuénaga Miguel de Azcuénaga (June 4, 1754 – December 19, 1833) was an Argentine brigadier. Educated in Spain, at the University of Seville, Azcuénaga began his military career in the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata and became a member of the ...

, Antonio González de Balcarce,

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 ...

Antonio Luis Beruti Antonio Luis Beruti (1772 – September 24, 1841) was an Argentine revolutionary who participated in the May Revolution that started the Argentine War of Independence, and later fought in the Argentine civil wars. Biography Born in Buenos Aire ...

Juan José Castelli Juan José Castelli (19 July 176412 October 1812) was an Argentine lawyer who was one of the leaders of the May Revolution, which led to the Argentine War of Independence. He led an ill-fated military campaign in Upper Peru. Juan José Castel ...

Domingo French Domingo María Cristóbal French (November 21, 1774 – June 4, 1825) was an Argentine revolutionary who took part in the May Revolution and the Argentine War of Independence. Biography Domingo María French was the son of ''peninsular'' Pat ...

Gregorio Aráoz de Lamadrid Comandante General Gregorio Aráoz de Lamadrid (or "de La Madrid"; 28 November 1795 in San Miguel de Tucumán – 5 January 1857 in Buenos Aires) was an Argentine military officer and briefly, governor of several provinces like Córdoba, ...

Francisco Narciso de Laprida Francisco Narciso de Laprida (October 28, 1786 in San Juan – September 22, 1829) was an Argentine lawyer and politician. He was a representative for San Juan at the Congress of Tucumán, and its president on July 9, 1816, when the Declarati ...

, Juan Larrea,

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 ...

Vicente López y Planes Alejandro Vicente López y Planes (May 3, 1785 – October 10, 1856) was an Argentine writer and politician who acted as interim President of Argentina from July 7 to August 18, 1827. He also wrote the lyrics of the Argentine National Anthe ...

, Bartolomé Mitre,

Mariano Moreno Mariano Moreno (; September 23, 1778March 4, 1811) was an Argentine lawyer, journalist, and politician. He played a decisive role in the Primera Junta, the first national government of Argentina, created after the May Revolution. Moreno was b ...

, Juan José Paso, Carlos Pellegrini,

Gervasio Antonio de Posadas Gervasio Antonio de Posadas y Dávila (18 June 1757, in Buenos Aires – 2 July 1833, in Buenos Aires) was a member of Argentina's Second Triumvirate from 19 August 1813 to 31 January 1814, after which he served as Supreme Director until 9 Janua ...

Domingo Faustino Sarmiento Domingo Faustino Sarmiento (; born Domingo Faustino Fidel Valentín Sarmiento y Albarracín; 15 February 1811 – 11 September 1888) was an Argentine activist, intellectual, writer, statesman and the second President of Argentina. His writing s ...

, and

Justo José de Urquiza Justo José de Urquiza y García (; October 18, 1801 – April 11, 1870) was an Argentine general and politician who served as president of the Argentine Confederation from 1854 to 1860. Life Justo José de Urquiza y García was bo ...

;

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 cent ...

is known to have been a member of the Lautaro Lodge, but whether that lodge was truly masonic has been debated:

Juntas

Paso assisted with the '' Cabildo Abierto'' of May 22, 1810 and supported the faction that sought the dismissal of

viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning "k ...

Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros, convincing many others with a fervent speech. He participated in the creation of the First Junta (''

Primera Junta The Primera Junta ( en, First Junta) or ''Junta Provisional Gubernativa de las Provincias del Río de la Plata'' (''Provisional Governing Junta of the Provinces of the Río de la Plata''), is the most common name given to the first government of ...

'') government on May 25 and was named Secretary of the Junta along with

, with whom he shared political points of view. He was sent by the Junta to

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 ...

(today's

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 ...

capital city) to spread the ideas of the revolution. Paso was also part of the

First Triumvirate The First Triumvirate was an informal political alliance among three prominent politicians in the late Roman Republic: Gaius Julius Caesar, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus and Marcus Licinius Crassus. The constitution of the Roman republic had many ve ...

and the Second Triumvirate that ruled the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (Argentina) between 1811 and 1814. During this period he participated in the Asamblea del año XIII and was sent to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

as a representative. But the negotiations with Chilean patriots failed and the Capitaincy of Chile refused to take part in the Union.

Congress of Tucumán

In 1815 Paso was named assistant to the Supreme Director and war consultant. He was later elected a representative to the

Congress of Tucumán The Congress of Tucumán was the representative assembly, initially meeting in San Miguel de Tucumán, that declared the independence of the United Provinces of South America (modern-day Argentina, Uruguay, part of Bolivia) on July 9, 1816, fro ...

that declared the Argentine Independence on July 9, 1816. As Secretary to this Congress, Paso had the honor of reading the independence act. However, he was then imprisoned and charged of treason for supporting the monarchist faction that wanted a monarchy as government for the new nation. He was quickly released along with the other monarchist deputies.

Buenos Aires' legislature

Elected a member of the Buenos Aires Province Legislature in 1822, Paso later became president of that body. In 1824, he was again elected representative for the National Congress and supported the nomination of

Bernardino Rivadavia Bernardino de la Trinidad González Rivadavia (May 20, 1780 – September 2, 1845) was the first President of Argentina, then called the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, from February 8, 1826 to June 27, 1827. He was educated at th ...

as the first President of Argentina. He retired from politics in 1826 disgusted with the violent disagreements among the provinces that divided themselves between Unitarians and

Federalists The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters called themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of de ...

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Paso, Juan Jose 1758 births 1833 deaths Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies elected in Buenos Aires Members of the Buenos Aires Province Chamber of Deputies People from Buenos Aires Argentine people of Spanish descent National University of Córdoba alumni Members of the Congress of Tucumán Members of the Assembly of the Year XIII Members of the Primera Junta Members of Argentine triumvirates Burials at La Recoleta Cemetery Argentine Freemasons