The National Academy of History of the Argentine Republic ( es, Academia Nacional de la Historia de la República Argentina) is a non-profit

learned society A learned society (; also learned academy, scholarly society, or academic association) is an organization that exists to promote an discipline (academia), academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and s ...

established to foster the study and dissemination of Argentine history.

Overview

Founded in 1893 by Ernesto Quesada, José Toribio Medina, and former 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 ...

, the academy was originally chartered as the ''Junta de Historia y Numismática Americana'' (Argentine Society of

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

and

Numismatics Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also includ ...

), and met in the home of Alejandro Rosa (located within the historic Illuminated Block, an erstwhile

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

center of learning). Mitre, who had abandoned politics in the 1880s, dedicated most of his later years to

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians ha ...

, and led the academy until his death in 1906. Some of its early work included reeditions of

Ulrich Schmidl Ulrich Schmidl or Schmidel (1510 in Straubing - 1579 in Regensburg) was a German Landsknecht, conquistador, explorer, chronicler and councilman. Schmidl was, beside Hans Staden, one of the few Landsknechts who wrote down their experiences of tr ...

's ''Viaje al Río de la Plata'', and of Jesuit historian

Pedro Lozano Father Pedro Lozano (1697–1752) was a Spanish ethnographer, historian and Jesuit Missionary. Life He was born in Madrid and arrived in the Americas at an early age, in 1714, bound for the Jesuit Reductions of Paraguay. He studied at the Univer ...

's ''Historia de la Compañía de Jesús en la provincias del Paraguay'', among other hitherto rare texts from the early colonial era. Subsequently, the academy was housed in the former building of the

Argentine National Congress The Congress of the Argentine Nation ( es, Congreso de la Nación Argentina) is the legislative branch of the government of Argentina. Its composition is bicameral, constituted by a 72-seat Senate and a 257-seat Chamber of Deputies. The Senate ...

, and shared the structure with the National Archives. Mitre's former home, which in 1907 was converted into the Mitre Museum, became its new home in 1918. Dr. Martiniano Leguizamón, president from 1923 to 1927, launched the society's ''Boletín'' in 1923, Dr. Ricardo Levene, its president from 1927 to 1959, directed its production of the seminal ''Historia de la nación Argentina'', a ten-volume compendium published between 1936 and 1942. He rechartered the society with its present name on January 21, 1938, and persuaded President Agustín Pedro Justo to transfer it to the national government's purview. The academy was again relocated, in 1971, to its present site, a federal government building near the Casa Rosada, and built in the late 1940s where the old Congress building once stood. The academy's membership is numerary, and is, accordingly, limited to 40 historians, and by invitation only.

References

Academia Nacional de la Historia de la República Argentina
*''Historical Dictionary of Argentina''. London: Scarecrow Press, 1978. {{authority control Historical societies of Argentina Organizations established in 1893 Research institutes in Argentina Learned societies of Argentina 1893 establishments in Argentina