José Nicolás Matienzo
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José Nicolás Matienzo (October 4, 1860January 3, 1936) was a prominent Argentine lawyer, writer, academic, and policy maker.


Life and times

José Nicolás Matienzo was born in
San Miguel de Tucumán San Miguel de Tucumán (; usually called simply Tucumán) is the capital and largest city of Tucumán Province, located in northern Argentina from Buenos Aires. It is the fifth-largest city of Argentina after Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Argentina, ...
,
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 ...
, in 1860. He enrolled at 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 ...
Law School, where he was mentored by Professor José Manuel Estrada, graduating with a '' juris doctor'' in 1882. The mercurial student began contributing articles and columns on a variety of subjects during law school, and continued in subsequent years. He was first appointed to public service as Legal Advisor to the Ministry of Public Works of
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 ...
, in 1885. This experience earned him a seat on
Emilio Mitre Emilio Mitre (5 January 1824, Carmen de Patagones – 24 December 1893) was an Argentine Lieutenant General who participated in the Paraguayan War. He was the brother of Bartolomé Mitre and participated across the Uruguayan Civil War and the Arg ...
's Railroad Regulatory Commission, which contributed to the orderly and rapid development of
rail transport in Argentina The Argentine railway network consisted of a network at the end of the Second World War and was, in its time, one of the most extensive and prosperous in the world. However, with the increase in highway construction, there followed a sharp decl ...
, after 1889. He then served as a civil court judge in La Plata, until 1890. Maienzo had supported the paramount
National Autonomist Party The National Autonomist Party ( es, Partido Autonomista Nacional; PAN) was the ruling political party of Argentina from 1874 to 1916. In 1880, Julio Argentino Roca assumed the presidency under the motto "peace and administration". History The ...
; but became disenchanted with it during President
Miguel Juárez Celman --> Miguel is a given name and surname, the Portuguese and Spanish form of the Hebrew name Michael. It may refer to: Places * Pedro Miguel, a parish in the municipality of Horta and the island of Faial in the Azores Islands * São Miguel (disa ...
's despotic 1886-90 rule. He provided legal advice to reform activists following the violently-suppressed
Revolution of the Park The Revolution of the Park (''Revolución del Parque''), also known as the Revolution of '90, was an uprising against the national government of Argentina that took place on July 26, 1890, and started with the takeover of the Buenos Aires Artille ...
(1890). Following a term in the Senate of the
Province of Buenos Aires 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 ...
, during which he became well known for his defense of federalism, Matienzo returned to the University of Buenos Aires in 1904 as Professor of Philosophy and Letters. He was appointed dean of his school in 1906, and later established the Institute of Historical Research. The reformist President
José Figueroa Alcorta José María Cornelio Figueroa Alcorta (November 20, 1860 – December 27, 1931) was an Argentine lawyer and politician, who managed to be the only person to head the three powers of the State: Vice President of the Nation (President of the ...
appointed Matienzo Minister of Labor in 1907. Accepting the post during a period of upheaval in the Argentine labor movement, he committed the bureau to accelerated
labor law Labour laws (also known as labor laws or employment laws) are those that mediate the relationship between workers, employing entities, trade unions, and the government. Collective labour law relates to the tripartite relationship between employee, ...
reform and ordered the publication of a bulletin detailing its activities. Continuing to teach he wrote the seminal ''Federal Representative Government in the Argentine Republic'', in 1910. The text articulated his view as historian that Argentine politics would shift along roughly 18-year cycles and that reform could only evolve as quickly as the educational level of the public at large. He was later appointed Attorney General by the first democratically elected President of Argentina,
Hipólito Yrigoyen Juan Hipólito del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús Yrigoyen (; 12 July 1852 – 3 July 1933) was an Argentine politician of the Radical Civic Union and two-time President of Argentina, who served his first term from 1916 to 1922 and his second ...
. The president retained him during his entire 1916-22 term, though Matienzo developed differences with the increasingly autocratic Yrigoyen. This helped earn him the powerful post of Minister of the Interior (overseeing law enforcement) under Yrigoyen's successor,
Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear Máximo Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear Pacheco (4 October 1868 – 23 March 1942), was an Argentine lawyer and politician, who served as president of Argentina between from 1922 to 1928. His period of government coincided precisely with the en ...
, who removed almost all other high-level Yrigoyen appointees. Matienzo retired from his professorship in 1927, when he accepted
Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...
leader Juan B. Justo's invitation to join his ticket as a running mate. The decision to include the pragmatic Matienzo sparked a division in the party during their 1927 convention, however. Three months before the April 1928 election, Justo died unexpectedly, and Matienzo fared poorly. In 1932 the aging academic was elected to the Argentine Senate from his native
Province of Tucumán 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 outs ...
, and he remained there until his death in 1936, at age 75.


References


Todo Argentina: José Nicolás Matienzo


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Matienzo, Jose Nicolas 1860 births 1936 deaths 19th-century Argentine lawyers Argentine prosecutors Argentine male writers Academic staff of the University of Buenos Aires Attorneys General of Argentina Members of the Argentine Senate for Tucumán Candidates for President of Argentina People from San Miguel de Tucumán Argentine people of Spanish descent