Florencio Varela (23 February 1808 – 20 March 1848) was an Argentine writer, poet, journalist and educator. Florencio was born 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 ...

on 23 February 1808, he was the sixth child of Don Jacobo Adrián Varela and María de la Encarnación Sanjinés, he had a keen interest in the literary arts from a young age. In his youth he wrote poetry and a theatre production. After graduating from the

University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires ( es, Universidad de Buenos Aires, UBA) is a public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Established in 1821, it is the premier institution of higher learning in the country and one of the most prestigi ...

in 1827 Varela became involved in politics, his association with the Partido Unitario meant that he was exiled to Montevideo in Uruguay after the defeat of General

Juan Lavalle Juan Galo Lavalle (17 October 1797 – 9 October 1841) was an Argentine military and political figure. Biography Lavalle was born in Buenos Aires to María Mercedes González Bordallo and Manuel José Lavalle, general accountant of rents and t ...

. Varela settled in Montevideo starting a family and associating with several other exile writers and intellectuals who opposed the rule of

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Juan Manuel de Rosas. After suffering a heart condition Varela moved to Río de Janeiro in Brazil where he recovered his health and worked on his history of Argentina. In 1842 he returned to Uruguay. In 1843 he travelled to Europe in order to garner British and French support to the project of a new state comprising

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 ...

, Rio Grande do Sul and some Argentine provinces. While in France, and like many other young travellers did, he met

José de San Martín José Francisco de San Martín y Matorras (25 February 177817 August 1850), known simply as José de San Martín () or '' the Liberator of Argentina, Chile and Peru'', was an Argentine general and the primary leader of the southern and centr ...

. On 1 October 1845 he founded the newspaper "Comercio del Plata" in Montevideo, he also founded the biblioteca de obras originales y traducidas (library of originals and translations). He became one of the fiercest critics of Governor Rosas. On 20 March 1848 he was assassinated by Andrés Cabrera, who was acting under the orders of Manuel Oribe and Rosas. He is buried in

La Recoleta Cemetery La Recoleta Cemetery ( es, Cementerio de la Recoleta) is a cemetery located in the Recoleta neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It contains the graves of notable people, including Eva Perón, presidents of Argentina, Nobel Prize winners, ...

in Buenos Aires.

External links

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Todo-Argentina profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Varela, Florencio Unitarianists (Argentina) Argentine journalists Argentine male writers Argentine librarians People from Buenos Aires 1807 births 1848 deaths Burials at La Recoleta Cemetery 19th-century journalists Male journalists 19th-century male writers