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 academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and science. Membership m ...

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, 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 invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

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 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's ''Viaje al

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 ...

'', and of Jesuit historian Pedro Lozano'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, 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 Ricardo is the Spanish and Portuguese cognate of the name Richard. It derived from Proto-Germanic ''*rīks'' 'king, ruler' + ''*harduz'' 'hard, brave'. It may be a given name, or a surname. People Given name *Ricardo de Araújo Pereira, Portug ...

, 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 Agustín Pedro Justo Rolón (26 February 1876 – 11 January 1943) was an Argentine military officer, diplomat and politician, who served as the president of Argentina from 1932 to 1938 during the Infamous Decade. Justo took part in the coup of ...

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 The ''Casa Rosada'' (, eng, Pink House) is the office of the president of Argentina. The palatial mansion is known officially as ''Casa de Gobierno'' ("House of Government" or "Government House"). Normally, the president lives at the Quinta de ...

, and built in the late 1940s where the old Congress building once stood. The academy's membership is

numerary Numerary may refer to: *Numerary, one of the types of membership of Opus Dei * Numerary protonotary, a historical position in Roman Catholic Church *Numerary nexus, in musical tuning *Numerary system in naval flag signalling Naval flag signalli ...

, 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