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
The Argentine War of Independence ( es, Guerra de Independencia de Argentina, links=no) was a secessionist civil war fought from 1810 to 1818 by Argentine patriotic forces under Manuel Belgrano, Juan José Castelli and José de San Martín ...
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'' 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 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 he pursued a political career as a revolutionary leader moved by the new national identity that was growing among the '
criollos'.
Like many other nineteenth century Argentines prominent in public life, he was a
freemason
Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
.
[The list includes Juan Bautista Alberdi, Manuel Alberti, Carlos María de Alvear, ]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
Antonio González de Balcarce (June 24, 1774 – August 15, 1819) was an Argentine military commander in the early 19th century.
González de Balcarce was born in Buenos Aires. He joined the armed forces as a cadet in 1788. In the battle for Mo ...
, 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 Aires, ...
, Juan José Castelli, 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'' Patri ...
, 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, M ...
, Francisco Narciso de Laprida , Juan Larrea, Juan Lavalle, Vicente López y Planes, 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 s ...
, 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 ...
, Juan José Paso, Carlos Pellegrini
Carlos Enrique José Pellegrini Bevans (October 11, 1846 – July 17, 1906) was Vice President of Argentina and became President of Argentina from August 6, 1890 to October 12, 1892, upon Miguel Ángel Juárez Celman's resignation (see R ...
, 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, and Justo José de Urquiza; José de San Martín 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 " ...
Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros
Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros y de la Torre (6 January 1756 – 9 June 1829) was a Spanish naval officer born in Cartagena. He took part in the Battle of Cape St Vincent and the Battle of Trafalgar, and in the Spanish resistance against Napole ...
, convincing many others with a fervent speech. He participated in the creation of the First Junta (''
Primera Junta'') government on May 25 and was named Secretary of the Junta along with
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 ...
, with whom he shared political points of view. He was sent by the Junta to
Montevideo
Montevideo () is the capital and 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 . Montevideo is situated on the southern co ...
(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
The Assembly of Year XIII ( es, Asamblea del Año XIII) was a meeting called by the Second Triumvirate governing the young republic of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (modern-day Argentina, Uruguay, part of Bolivia) on October 1812 ...
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 eas ...
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 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
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 ...
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 ...
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.
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