Santiago Rafael Luis Manuel José María Derqui Rodríguez ( Córdoba June 21, 1809 –

Corrientes Corrientes (; Guaraní: Taragüí, literally: "Currents") is the capital city of the province of Corrientes, Argentina, located on the eastern shore of the Paraná River, about from Buenos Aires and from Posadas, on National Route 12. It ha ...

November 5, 1867) was president of Argentina from March 5, 1860 to November 5, 1861. He was featured on the 10 australes note, which is now obsolete.

Biography

The firstborn son of Manuel José María Derqui y García and his wife Ramona Rodríguez y Orduña, Santiago Derqui studied at the Córdoba National University, receiving a degree in law in 1831. At the university he was professor of law, then of philosophy, and finally vice-dean. On May 14, 1845, he married Modesta García de Cossio y Vedoya Lagraña (1825–1885) with whom he had three boys (Manuel Santiago, Simón, and Santiago Martín Antonio) and three girls (Josefa, Justa Dolores Belisaria, and María del Carmen Modesta Leonor). He was first assistant and then Minister of the government of

Corrientes Province Corrientes (, ‘currents’ or ‘streams’; gn, Taragui), officially the Province of Corrientes ( es, Provincia de Corrientes; gn, Taragüí Tetãmini) is a province in northeast Argentina, in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by (fr ...

under

José María Paz Brigadier General José María Paz y Haedo (September 9, 1791 – October 22, 1854) was an Argentine military figure, notable in the Argentine War of Independence and the Argentine Civil Wars. Childhood Born in Córdoba, Argentina, the son ...

Justo José de Urquiza Justo José de Urquiza y García (; October 18, 1801 – April 11, 1870) was an Argentine general and politician who served as president of the Argentine Confederation from 1854 to 1860. Life Justo José de Urquiza y García was bo ...

named him 'Business administrator' and sent him to

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 ...

on a foreign business mission. He became deputy for Córdoba Province. In 1854 Urquiza named him head of the ''Ministry of Justice, Education and Public Instruction'', where he worked for the six years of Urquiza's mandate, pushing forward the still-emerging nation. He was an active Freemason. After Urquiza's mandate, Derqui became constitutional president. Being from Córdoba and not from

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 ...

, it was expected that under his rule the continuous revolts of the provincial governments against the federal government would end. Derqui accepted the revised national constitution with the changes that would favour Buenos Aires, and named the country ''República Argentina''. This and other unpopular policies towards the rest of the country provoked a general discontent in the provinces that led to the

Battle of Pavón The Battle of Pavón, a key battle of the Argentine Civil Wars, was fought in Pavón, Santa Fé Province, Argentina on 17 September 1861 between the Army of the State of Buenos Aires, commanded by Bartolomé Mitre, and the Army of Republic of t ...

. Unable to maintain authority, Derqui resigned and fled to Montevideo. While in exile, Bartolomé Mitre helped him to go back to his wife's native city of

, where he would die a few years later.

References

1809 births 1867 deaths Politicians from Córdoba, Argentina Presidents of Argentina Foreign ministers of Argentina Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies elected in Corrientes Federales (Argentina) Argentine Freemasons National University of Córdoba alumni 19th-century Argentine lawyers {{Argentina-law-bio-stub