Juan Tomás Julián Marcos de Rocamora y del Castillo (27 April 1740 – 16 March 1819) was the governor of three

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

and the founder of several towns in

Entre Ríos Province Entre Ríos (, "Between Rivers") is a central province of Argentina, located in the Mesopotamia region. It borders the provinces of Buenos Aires (south), Corrientes (north) and Santa Fe (west), and Uruguay in the east. Its capital is Paraná ( ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. Born in

Granada, Nicaragua Granada () is a city in western Nicaragua and the capital of the Granada Department. With an estimated population of 104,980 (2021), it is Nicaragua's ninth most populous city. Granada is historically one of Nicaragua's most important cities, econ ...

, he moved to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

at an early age. In 1750 he entered the

Spanish Royal Guard The Royal Guard ( es, Guardia Real) is an independent regiment of the Spanish Armed Forces that is dedicated to the protection of the King of Spain and members of the Spanish Royal Family. It currently has a strength of 1,500 troops. While the gu ...

. As an officer he came to the

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 ...

to fight in

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 ...

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 ...

against the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

. In 1782 he was sent to explore and pacify the area of the settlements around the

Uruguay River The Uruguay River ( es, Río Uruguay, ; pt, Rio Uruguai, ) is a major river in South America. It flows from north to south and forms parts of the boundaries of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay, separating some of the Argentine provinces of La M ...

by the newly installed

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 ...

Juan José de Vértiz y Salcedo Juan José de Vértiz y Salcedo (1719 in Mérida, Yucatán – 1799 in Madrid, Spain) was a Spanish colonial politician born in New Spain, and Viceroy of the Río de la Plata. Biography Son of a prominent peninsular politician, he studied in ...

. He founded five towns in present-day Entre Ríos, among them Gualeguay,

Concepción del Uruguay Concepción del Uruguay is a city in Argentina. It is located in the Entre Ríos Province, Entre Ríos province, on the western shore of the Uruguay River, some 320 kilometers north from Buenos Aires. Its population is about 80,000 inhabitants ( ...

and Gualeguaychú. He was also the first to use (in letters to the viceroy) the name ''Entre Ríos'' (literally "Between Rivers") for the land whose southern limits are the rivers Uruguay and Paraná. Rocamora was the governor of three

of the Argentine Mesopotamia: Entre Ríos,

Corrientes Corrientes (; Guaraní language, Guaraní: Taragüí, literally: "Currents") is the capital city of the Provinces of Argentina, province of Corrientes Province, Corrientes, Argentina, located on the eastern shore of the Paraná River, about from ...

and

Misiones Misiones (, ''Missions'') is one of the 23 provinces of Argentina, located in the northeastern corner of the country in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by Paraguay to the northwest, Brazil to the north, east and south, and Corrientes P ...

. He was the governor of Misiones when the

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 installed the first national government in

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 ...

, and accepted its authority. He was relieved from his post at the age of 71, and in 1812 he retired from the army as a colonel. Rocamora died in 1819, at the age of 79. Today, his remains rest at the

Basilica of Our Lady of Mercy The Basilica of Our Lady of Mercy ( ca, Basílica de la Mercè, es, Basílica de la Merced) is a Baroque-style basilica in Barcelona, Catalonia. It was built between 1765 and 1775, being the work of Catalan architect Josep Mas i Dordal. The do ...

in Buenos Aires. By a decree of the government of Entre Ríos, since 1958 Rocamora's work is remembered on 11 August.

Sources

* LaCalle
''Fundación de la histórica ciudad de Concepción del Uruguay''
* University of Commercial Sciences, Nicaragua

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rocamora, Tomas de 1740 births 1819 deaths Nicaraguan emigrants to Spain Spanish military personnel Governors of Corrientes Province Governors of Entre Ríos Province Governors of Misiones Province