Juan María Gutiérrez (May 6, 1809 – February 26, 1878) was an

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 ...

statesman, jurist, surveyor, historian, critic, and poet. He was a major figure in Argentine liberalism and one of the most prominent promoters of Argentine culture during the 19th century. His oeuvre includes novels, Costumbrist dramas, biographies, literary criticism, and scientific works. His political career began after the fall of

Juan Manuel de Rosas Juan Manuel José Domingo Ortiz de Rozas y López de Osornio (30 March 1793 – 14 March 1877), nicknamed "Restorer of the Laws", was an Argentine politician and army officer who ruled Buenos Aires Province and briefly the Argentine Confedera ...

in 1852. He represented Entre Ríos at the Argentine constitutional convention the following year. Between 1854 and 1856 he served as minister of foreign relations for the

Argentine Confederation The Argentine Confederation (Spanish: ''Confederación Argentina'') was the last predecessor state of modern Argentina; its name is still one of the official names of the country according to the Argentine Constitution, Article 35. It was the nam ...

. Along with

Esteban Echeverría José Esteban Antonio Echeverría (2 September 1805 – 19 January 1851) was an Argentine poet, fiction writer, cultural promoter, and liberal activist who played a significant role in the development of Argentine literature, not only thro ...

, he was one of the founders of the Asociación de Mayo, an intellectual movement of the

Rio de la Plata Rio or Río is the Portuguese and Spanish word for "river". The word also exists in Italian, but is largely obsolete and used in a poetical or literary context to mean "stream". Rio, RIO or Río may also refer to: Places United States * Rio, Fl ...

region. Gutiérrez was also a major figure of science and technology within Argentina. He was rector of the

University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires (, UBA) is a public university, public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is the second-oldest university in the country, and the largest university of the country by enrollment. Established in 1821 ...

from 1861 until his retirement in 1874. During his tenure, numerous distinguished European professors joined the university's faculty. Along with

Hermann Burmeister Karl Hermann Konrad Burmeister (also known as Carlos Germán Conrado Burmeister) (15 January 1807 – 2 May 1892) was a German Argentine zoologist, entomologist, herpetologist, botany, botanist, and coleopterologist. He served as a professor at ...

, he launched the study of natural sciences in Argentina. :"Fortunately I have a malleable character and always find as much promise in a book of poetry as in a book of mathematics." - Juan María Gutiérrez :"By virtue of his heart's loftiness and his spirit's luster, Gutiérrez was a poet without compromising himself as a mathematician. This yields the precious alliance of good taste and good sense that pervades his intelligence." - Juan Bautista Alberdi

Biography

Gutiérrez was acquainted with letters from an early age, but did not disdain the sciences, and was especially fond of mathematics. He studied engineering as much as he did law. He earned his doctorate in jurisprudence at age 27 with the thesis ''Sobre los tres poderes públicos'' ("On the three public powers"). He was exempt from paying tuition due to his family's poor economic standing, but chose to pay his own way as a surveyor and engineer with the Topographical Department, by producing translations, and by contributing to literary journals. He formed and presided over the ''Association of Historical Studies'' and regularly attended meetings of the ''Literary Salon'' founded by Marcos Sastre. In 1837 he delivered his lecture ''Physiognomy of Spanish learning''. During the rule of

, Gutiérrez's support for Argentine exiles in

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

led to his dismissal and imprisonment. He himself moved to Uruguay in 1840 when it was discovered that he had collaborated anonymously to ''El Iniciador'', a periodical critical of Rosas. At the same time he continued to produce works as an engineer and topographer. Along with

Juan Bautista Alberdi Juan Bautista Alberdi (August 29, 1810 – June 19, 1884) was an Argentine political theorist and diplomat. Although he lived most of his life in exile in Montevideo, Uruguay and in Chile, he influenced the content of the Constitution of Argen ...

and

, he founded the Asociación de Mayo. In 1843 he and Alberdi traveled through the Americas and Europe. During a sojourn in

Valparaíso Valparaíso () is a major city, Communes of Chile, commune, Port, seaport, and naval base facility in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. Valparaíso was originally named after Valparaíso de Arriba, in Castilla–La Mancha, Castile-La Mancha, Spain ...

, Chile, Gutiérrez devoted himself to teaching and writing. Among his works from this period was the critically acclaimed ''América Poética''. He became the first director of the Naval Academy in Valparaíso. He published biographies translated from the French, as well as the results of his investigations of the new world. The fall of Rosas in 1852 allowed Gutiérrez to return to Argentina, where he attended the Constitutional Convention of 1853 as a supporter of the

San Nicolás Agreement The San Nicolás Agreement () was a pact signed on May 31, 1852 and subscribed by all but one of the 14 provinces of the United Provinces of the River Plate (the exception was Buenos Aires). The treaty consisted of 19 articles, and its goal was t ...

. As minister of foreign relations of the

under

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 bor ...

, he contributed to the success of the San José de Flores Agreement in 1859, which reunited

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 ...

and the provinces of the Argentine Confederation. Gutiérrez began a career as a journalist in Buenos Aires and also served as a national deputy. President

Bartolomé Mitre Bartolomé Mitre (26 June 1821 – 19 January 1906) was an Argentine statesman, soldier and author. He was President of Argentina from 1862 to 1868 and the first president of Argentine Civil Wars#National unification, unified Argentina. Mitre i ...

appointed him rector of the

, in which capacity he served from 1861 to 1874.; he established the university's School of Engineering in 1866. He later attended the Constitutional Convention of Buenos Aires between 1870 and 1873.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gutierrez, Juan Maria Argentine male writers Academic staff of the University of Buenos Aires Foreign ministers of Argentina Argentine scientists 19th-century Argentine historians Argentine naturalists Argentine liberal politicians 1809 births 1878 deaths Argentine educators Rectors of the University of Buenos Aires 19th-century Argentine male writers