Elías Canaán Sapag (

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: إلياس كنعان صباغ) (August 5, 1911 – June 21, 1993) was a Lebanese-born

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

politician, long-serving senator for

Neuquén Province Neuquén () is a Provinces of Argentina, province of Argentina, located in the west of the country, at the northern end of Patagonia. It borders Mendoza Province to the north, Rio Negro Province to the southeast, and Chile to the west. It also me ...

, founder of the

Neuquén People's Movement The Neuquén People's Movement () is a peronism, Peronist provincial political party in Neuquén Province, Neuquén, Argentina. The party was founded by, amongst others, Carlos Sobisch, Elías Sapag, Felipe Sapag and his brothers, Peronists who ...

and head of the locally influential Sapag family. Sapag was born in Mayrouba, in the

Keserwan District Keserwan District (, transliteration: ''Qaḍā' Kisrawān'') is a district (''qadaa'') in Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate, Lebanon, to the northeast of Lebanon's capital Beirut. The capital, Jounieh, is overwhelmingly Maronite Christian. The area ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, and emigrated with his parents to Argentina in 1913. They arrived in Covunco, Neuquén, where his grandfather had already set up home, and moved on to

Zapala Zapala is a city and touristic destination in the Patagonian province of Neuquén, Argentina with about 32,000 inhabitants according to the . The city is located at the geographic center of the province at the confluence of national and provincia ...

. His parents had several more children, including his brothers

Felipe Felipe is the Spanish variant of the name Philip, which derives from the Greek adjective ''Philippos'' "friend of horses". Felipe is also widely used in Portuguese-speaking Brazil alongside Filipe, the form commonly used in Portugal. Noteworthy ...

, Amado and José. The family were successful in business, but the 1930 economic collapse brought great hardship. Sapag and his brothers were forced to give up their education to work to support the family and they moved to

Cutral Có Cutral Có is a city in the Confluencia Department of Neuquén Province in Argentina. It is part of the statistical area formed with neighboring Plaza Huincul. The settlement is located in the desert, it was founded in 1933 after the discovery of ...

to set up a company. He and his brothers played leading roles in the community, and became leading

Peronist Peronism, also known as justicialism, is an Argentine ideology and movement based on the ideas, doctrine and legacy of Juan Perón (1895–1974). It has been an influential movement in 20th- and 21st-century Argentine politics. Since 1946, Pe ...

activists. Elías chaired the Settlement Committee (''Comisión de Fomento'') of the town whilst Felipe was secretary, helping newcomers to settle in the new town. Felipe later became the first mayor of Cutral-Có, and Amado became mayor of Zapala. Following the military coup d'etat and the banning of the Peronist movement, Sapag and his brothers founded the Neuquino People's Movement, a provincial political party able to contest elections. Originally called 'Provincial Politics', it came into being on June 4, 1961, and Elías became party president. He was elected to the

Argentine Senate The Honorable Senate of the Argentine Nation () is the upper house of the National Congress of Argentina. Overview The National Senate was established by the Argentine Confederation on July 29, 1854, pursuant to Articles 46 to 54 of the 185 ...

in 1963, whilst Felipe was elected Governor of Neuquén and would serve on four further occasions until the 1990s. Having been deposed by the military in 1966, Elías Sapag was re-elected to the Senate in 1973, and returned to Congress in 1983 upon the restoration of democracy, serving until his death in 1993. He was one of Argentina's longest-serving senators. Sapag married Alma Cavallo, who was a niece of

Salvadora Medina Onrubia Salvadora Medina Onrubia (pen name: Dr. Brea; 23 March 189421 July 1972) was an Argentine storyteller, poet, anarchist and feminist. Biography Salvadora Medina Onrubia was born 23 March 1894, in La Plata, Buenos Aires Province. At the age of 1 ...

, and they had seven children. His son Rodolfo 'Pipe' Sapag succeeded him as senator, his daughter, Luz Sapag, was next to become a senator herself, whilst another son

Jorge Jorge is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name George. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese . It is derived from the Greek name Γεώργιος (''Georgios ...

served as vice-governor and from 2007 as governor of Neuquén.

References

Sapag family history
by Luis Felipe Sapag

government of Neuquén {{DEFAULTSORT:Sapag, Elias 1911 births 1993 deaths People from Keserwan District Lebanese Christians Argentine Maronites Lebanese emigrants to Argentina Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to Argentina Members of the Argentine Senate for Neuquén Neuquén People's Movement politicians Sapag family Maronite politicians