Tristán Narvaja (March 17, 1819 – February 19, 1877) 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 ...

and Uruguayan judge, professor, theologian, and politician.

Biography

Narvaja was born on March 17, 1819, in

Córdoba, Argentina Córdoba () is a city in central Argentina, in the foothills of the Punilla Valley, Sierras Chicas on the Primero River, Suquía River, about northwest of Buenos Aires. It is the capital of Córdoba Province, Argentina, Córdoba Province an ...

, to father Pedro Narvaja Dávila and mother Mercedes Montelles. He attended school in his hometown ''Colegio de los Franciscanos'' and later in Buenos Aires, where he received his doctorate in

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

and

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...

. At the end of 1840 Narvaja arrived 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 ...

, renewed his title as a Doctor of Jurisprudence and was received as a lawyer. Shortly after the ''Sitio Grande'' during the Uruguayan Civil War he returned to

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 later traveled to

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

in the Argentine Andean Provinces located in

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until the end of 1843. Upon his return to Montevideo he practiced as a lawyer, and published legal works. In 1855 he was admitted to the ''Facultad de Jurisprudencia'' as a professor of

Civil Rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

, a chair that he held until 1872, the year in which the ''Tribunal Superior de Justicia'' was integrated. In 1875, he was elected the deputy for Durazno. This same year he was designated as the Minister of the Government, a position he maintained until February 1876, when the military epoch under President Lorenzo Latorre began. Narvaja drafted the '' Código Civil de Uruguay'', often considered a work of exemplary merit, which was put into effect in 1868. He was the author of the ''Código de Minería'' which became valid on January 17, 1876. He also contributed substantially to the correction of the ''Código de Comercio'' that had been prepared by Dr. Eduardo Acevedo Díaz. Later on, he drafted numerous works and laws, as well as being a decisive and impeller of the legislation that gave Uruguay the ability to consolidate as an independent state. In 1854 he married Joaquina Requena Sierra, with whom he had a daughter named Mercedes. After her death in 1865, he remarried with Umbelina Tapia y Sierra with whom they had five children: Manuel Tomás, Tristán Hilario, Alfredo, Ricardo T., and Augusto. Narvaja died on February 19, 1877, in Montevideo, after a brief illness. He was the author of the following works, among others: *''De la Administración de Justicia en la República Oriental del Uruguay'' (1841) *''De la Sociedad Conyugal y las Dotes'' (1875) *''El Ejercicio de la Abogacía y la Defensa Libre'' (1875) *''Ley Hipotecaria y Graduación de Acreedores'' (1864, 2nd ed. 1867) *''Cuestión de oportunidad'' (1867). A street in the Cordón neighborhood of Montevideo is named after him. Equally famous is the street market which bears his name, held every Sunday.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Narvaja, Tristan People from Córdoba, Argentina Uruguayan judges Uruguayan politicians Uruguayan theologians 1819 births 1877 deaths