Norberto Camilo Quirno Costa (July 18, 1844 – March 2, 1915) was an Argentine lawyer, politician, and diplomat.

Life and times

Quirno Costa was born in Buenos Aires to Fernanda Costa and Gregorio Quirno. He received a ''

juris doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

'' at the

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

, and married Alcira Albarracín Pacheco, with whom he had four children. He entered public service as an official in the Argentine

legation A legation was a diplomatic representative office of lower rank than an embassy. Where an embassy was headed by an ambassador, a legation was headed by a Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, minister. Ambassadors diplomatic rank, out ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

in 1868, and was appointed the following year as Undersecretary of Foreign Relations. Taking office toward the end of the Paraguayan War, in which

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 ...

, Brazil, and

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 ...

were in a protracted war with

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

, Quirno Costa represented Argentina at the 1870 treaty ending hostilities, and obtained the concession of what is today Formosa Province (coveted for its Quebracho forests). He formed part of a commission on the reform of the

Buenos Aires Province 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 ...

Constitution in 1871, and was elected to

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

in 1878 for the newly formed

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 ...

. The election of that party's nominee,

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 (disam ...

, to the presidency in 1886 resulted in his appointment as Foreign Minister, during which he pursued regional

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

agreements and negotiated a treaty with

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

to help settle the

Puna de Atacama dispute The Puna de Atacama dispute, sometimes referred to as Puna de Atacama Lawsuit (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Litigio de la Puna de Atacama''), was a border dispute involving Argentina, Chile and Bolivia in the 19th century over the arid high plate ...

, in which Argentine claims over Tarija, Bolivia were dropped for a greater share of the Puna de Atacama region (prized for its

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

deposits). Quirno Costa was appointed Ambassador to Chile in 1892, by which he sought, unsuccessfully, to resolve the Beagle Channel dispute between the two neighboring countries. The longtime leader of the National Autonomists, Julio A. Roca, ran again for the presidency in 1897 (he had been once elected, in 1880) and chose Quirno Costa as his running mate. He presided over the January 1898 constitutional amendment convention, and was elected with Roca that April, serving uneventfully as Vice President for the entirety of Roca's second, six-year term. He visited Europe during late 1902. Quirno Costa returned briefly to government as Interior Minister (

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national ...

) to President José Figueroa Alcorta in 1906, but retired shortly afterward. He died in

San Fernando, Buenos Aires San Fernando de la Buena Vista is a city in the Gran Buenos Aires area, in Argentina, and capital of the San Fernando Partido, north of the city of Buenos Aires. Geographic Data Located in the northern area of Gran Buenos Aires, San Fernando is ...

, in 1915.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quirno Costa, Norberto 1844 births 1915 deaths Lawyers from Buenos Aires University of Buenos Aires alumni 19th-century Argentine lawyers Argentine diplomats Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies elected in Buenos Aires Province Vice presidents of Argentina Ambassadors of Argentina to Chile National Autonomist Party politicians Burials at La Recoleta Cemetery Ministers of Internal Affairs of Argentina Foreign ministers of Argentina Patrician families of Buenos Aires