Hernán Pujato
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Hernán Pujato (19042003) was an Argentine military general, diplomat, and explorer. He founded the first
Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...
bases for his country, and founded the
Instituto Antártico Argentino The Instituto Antártico Argentino (, abbrevriated IAA) is the Argentine federal agency in charge of orientating, controlling, addressing and performing scientific and technical research and studies in the Antarctic. It is under the supervision of ...
. Through this institute, Pujato attempted to colonize Antarctica, with the assistance of President
Juan Perón Juan Domingo Perón (, , ; 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine military officer and Statesman (politician), statesman who served as the History of Argentina (1946-1955), 29th president of Argentina from 1946 to Revolución Libertad ...
.


Early life

Pujato was the son of José Diego Pujato and Martina García. He was born in
Diamante, Entre Ríos Diamante is a city in the west of the province of Entre Ríos, Argentina, on the eastern shore of the Paraná River The Paraná River ( ; ; ) is a river in south-central South America, running through Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina for some ...
on the same year that Argentina opened the first permanent base on Antarctica,
Orcadas Base Base Orcadas is an Argentina, Argentine scientific station in Antarctica, and the oldest of the stations in Antarctica still in operation. It is located on Laurie Island, one of the South Orkney Islands (), at above sea level and from the coastl ...
on
Laurie Island Laurie Island is the second largest of the South Orkney Islands. The island is claimed by both Argentina as part of Argentine Antarctica, and by the United Kingdom as part of the British Antarctic Territory. Under the Antarctic Treaty System a ...
. After his early education in Diamante, Entre Ríos, he went to secondary school in
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
. He then studied at the Colegio Militar de la Nación in Buenos Aires.


Military career

By 1949, Pujato was a
colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...
. This year, he presented a plan for Antarctica to president
Juan Perón Juan Domingo Perón (, , ; 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine military officer and Statesman (politician), statesman who served as the History of Argentina (1946-1955), 29th president of Argentina from 1946 to Revolución Libertad ...
. Pujato proposed creating a scientific institute for research purposes and establishing scientific and population bases in Antarctica. Perón's initial interest led to Pujato visiting the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
and
Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...
to study survival in extreme latitudes. By 1951, Pujato was ready to attempt building a new settlement. With the
Argentine Navy The Argentine Navy (ARA; ). This forms the basis for the navy's ship prefix "ARA". is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the Argentine Army, Army and the Argentine ...
, Pujato hired the ''Santa Micaela''. Commanded by Overseas Captain Santiago Farrell, it was a cargo ship belonging to the Argentine shipping company Pérez Companc S. A. The ''Santa Micaela'' left the port of
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
on 12 February 1951, and on 8 March it anchored at
Marguerite Bay Marguerite Bay or Margaret Bay is an extensive bay on the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula, which is bounded on the north by Adelaide Island and on the south by Wordie Ice Shelf, George VI Sound and Alexander Island. The mainland coast on th ...
. The settlement,
San Martín Base San Martín Base () is a permanent, all year-round Argentine Antarctic base and scientific research station named after General José de San Martín, the Libertador of Argentina, Chile and Peru. It is located on Barry Island, Marguerite Bay, Anta ...
was a success, and still stands today. It was the first human settlement south of the
Antarctic Circle The Antarctic Circle is the most southerly of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of Earth. The region south of this circle is known as the Antarctic, and the zone immediately to the north is called the Southern Temperate Zone. So ...
. For his success, Pujato was promoted to brigadier general and saw the foundation of the
Instituto Antártico Argentino The Instituto Antártico Argentino (, abbrevriated IAA) is the Argentine federal agency in charge of orientating, controlling, addressing and performing scientific and technical research and studies in the Antarctic. It is under the supervision of ...
(IAA). The next year, Pujato founded Belgrano I Base in Argentina, which stood until 1980. This was the most southerly station in the world at the time. From this station, Pujato and others flew reconnaissance in the area. For this work, Pujato was promoted to
general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...
. Pujato's career ended abruptly in 1955. President Perón lost power in the
Revolución Libertadora The ''Revolución Libertadora'' (; ''Liberating Revolution'') as it named itself, was the civic-military dictatorship that ruled the Argentine Republic after overthrowing President Juan Domingo Perón, shutting down the National Congress of Ar ...
, and the new government, led by Pedro Eugenio Aramburu, forced Pujato to retire. Pujato played no major roles in Argentina after this. During the
Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...
, the 78-year old retired general offered to play a
kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...
-type role against the British ship HMS ''Invincible'', but was refused.


See also

* Colonization of Antarctica


References


Bibliography

* Fontana, Luis Roberto. ''Rememoración Histórica 50 años de la Base San Martín''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pujato, Hernan Argentine generals Explorers of Antarctica 1904 births 2003 deaths