Ramón Artagaveytia was a Uruguayan businessman who survived the sinking of the ''America'' in 1871 and did not board another boat for 41 years until he boarded the
Titanic
RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...
.
Life
Ramon was born in
Montevideo, Uruguay
Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital and 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 . Montevideo is situated on the southern coa ...
to Ramón Bernardo de Artagaveytía (1796-1852) and María Josefa Gómez (1806-1870). On Christmas Eve of 1871, Ramon boarded the ''S.S.'' ''America'' while it has harbored in Punta Espinillo, Uruguay. Newspapers reported that the ''America'' had been racing another ship into Montevideo harbour and high boiler pressures had led to a fire. There were 114 first class, 20 second class and 30 "popular" class. Only 65 passengers survived. Ramon escaped by jumping into the sea and swimming for his life. Many of the passengers were horribly burned, and the event left Ramon emotionally scarred. Ramon moved to
Buenos Aires, Argentina
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 ...
in 1905 to take control of a farm where he lived until 1912.
RMS Titanic
41 years after the ''America'' incident, Ramon traveled to Europe to visit his cousin who was the head of the Uruguayan Consulate in Berlin. He then boarded the
RMS Titanic
RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that Sinking of the Titanic, sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking Iceberg that struck the Titanic, an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York Ci ...
at
Cherbourg-Octeville
Cherbourg-Octeville () is a former commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. According to a survivor named Julian Padro y Manent, on the night of the sinking, Ramon was observed with two other Uruguayan passengers, Francisco M. Carrau and his nephew, Jose Pedro Carrau; the three men were joking about the situation. Ramon's body was discovered by the CS MacKay-Bennett. The following is the description of Ramon's body.
After Ramon's body was recovered, he was transported to Argentina and buried on April 18, 1912. A letter he wrote to his brother Adolfo and his gold swiss pocket watch were sold at auction for around $15,000 and $25,000.