Justo Daract (1804–1887) was an Argentine politician who served as governor of San Luis Province and in the

Argentine Senate The Honorable Senate of the Argentine Nation ( es, Honorable Senado de la Nación Argentina) is the upper house of the National Congress of Argentina. Overview The National Senate was established by the Argentine Confederation on July 29, 185 ...

and

Argentine Chamber of Deputies The Chamber of Deputies ( es, Cámara de Diputados de la Nación), officially the Honorable Chamber of Deputies of the Argentine Nation, is the lower house of the Argentine National Congress ( es, Congreso de la Nación). It is made up of 257 ...

, representing that province.

Life and times

Son of a

French Argentine French Argentines (french: Franco-Argentins; es, franco-argentinos) refers to Argentine citizens of full or partial French ancestry or persons born in France who reside in Argentina. French Argentines form one of the largest ancestry groups af ...

immigrant, Daract was born in San Luis, Argentina, studied in Buenos Aires, and became a retailer. The alliance in 1840 of Córdoba and five smaller, northwestern provinces in a Northern Coalition against

Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of th ...

Governor

Juan Manuel de Rosas Juan Manuel José Domingo Ortiz de Rosas (30 March 1793 – 14 March 1877), nicknamed "Restorer of the Laws", was an Argentine politician and army officer who ruled Buenos Aires Province and briefly the Argentine Confederation. Althoug ...

(the paramount figure in the

Argentine Confederation The Argentine Confederation (Spanish: ''Confederación Argentina'') was the last predecessor state of modern Argentina; its name is still one of the official names of the country according to the Argentine Constitution, Article 35. It was the name ...

) prompted Daract to join the Unitarian Party. Following the coalition's defeat in November, however, Daract fled to Chile, and reopened his former Buenos Aires business there. He received financial support from the governor of San Luis Province,

Pablo Lucero Pablo Lucero (c. 1800 - 12 September 1856) was an Argentine soldier, a leader of the Federalist Party, and governor of San Luis Province throughout the 1840s. Early years Pablo Lucero was born near San Luis, Argentina around 1800, son of a ranc ...

, and stockpiled arms for an eventual return. He returned to Argentina in 1850, and purchased a

cattle ranch A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most often ...

in San Luis Province, becoming an important supplier for the Army. He was named Civil Court magistrate in 1853, though by then, he had distanced himself from Governor Lucero, and led an alliance of both Unitarians and their enemies, the

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 ...

, against the governor. The alliance succeeded in persuading Lucero to step down, and on November 8, 1854, Daract was selected governor by an assembly. He enacted a new provincial constitution, and promptly called for elections. Daract won in the polls later that year, and became the first elected governor of San Luis. The governor enacted numerous reforms during his tenure. He established a judicial system, subdivided the province into eight departments, established a system of public land leases over vast tracts of provincially owned pastures, founded the first newspaper in San Luis, regulated native American commerce, founded a strategically located fort (at what today is Villa Mercedes), and had a variety of infrastructure built in the pastoral province, as well as commissioning what became the Cathedral of San Luis (notable for its Neoclassical portico). Serving out his term, he stepped down in 1859, and was succeeded by General

Juan Esteban Pedernera Juan Esteban Pedernera (December 25, 1796 – February 1, 1886) was interim President of Argentina during a brief period in 1861. Born in 1796 in San Luis Province, he studied in a Franciscan monastery when young, and left his studies to jo ...

. A series of disorders caused by the Federalist defeat at the Battle of Pavón led to Daract's re-appointment as governor by an assembly and with the support of Buenos Aires, in December 1861. Serving for five months, he mediated a truce between Unitarian general Wenceslao Paunero and La Rioja Province governor Chacho Peñaloza, who had invaded San Luis Province amid a renewed conflict with Unitarians; the truce resulted in the Treaty of La Banderita, which contributed to national stability by dissipating conflict in the Cuyo (western) region of Argentina. Daract was elected to the

in 1863. He advocated for provincial

autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ...

and negotiated a truce between the national government and the Ranquel people that inhabited the San Luis area. He was elected to the Provincial Legislature, and in April 1865, to a third term as governor. A Federalist uprising in November 1866 forced Daract and his government to evacuate San Luis. Argentine Army troops, led by General

José Miguel Arredondo José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

, retook San Luis in the April, 1867, Battle of San Ignacio, however, and Daract regained his post. The intervention made Daract a staunch supporter of the President,

Bartolomé Mitre Bartolomé Mitre Martínez (26 June 1821 – 19 January 1906) was an Argentine statesman, soldier and author. He was President of Argentina from 1862 to 1868 and the first president of unified Argentina. Mitre is known as the most versatile ...

, and he was elected to the Lower House of Congress on Mitre's Liberal Party ticket, shortly after his May 1867 retirement as governor. He was a

constitutional assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

man during a number of amendment deliberations, and established the San Luis National College, and the Girls' Normal School in that province. Daract died in Villa María, Córdoba, in 1887. The town of

Justo Daract, San Luis Justo Daract is the fifth most important city in the province of San Luis Province, San Luis, Argentina. It is located in the oriental area of Cuyo (Argentina), Cuyo, a few kilometers away from the border of the province of Córdoba, Argentina, C� ...

was named in his honor.

References

*Núñez, Urbano. ''Historia de San Luis''. Buenos Aires: Editoral Plus Ultra, 1980. {{DEFAULTSORT:Daract, Justo 1804 births 1887 deaths People from San Luis, Argentina Argentine people of French descent Unitarianists (Argentina) Members of the Argentine Senate for San Luis Governors of San Luis Province Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies elected in San Luis Argentine businesspeople