Vicente López y Planes (May 3, 1785 – October 10, 1856) was an Argentine writer and politician who acted as interim

President of Argentina The president of Argentina, officially known as the president of the Argentine Nation, is both head of state and head of government of Argentina. Under Constitution of Argentina, the national constitution, the president is also the Head of go ...

from July 7 to August 18, 1827. He also wrote the lyrics of the

Argentine National Anthem The Argentine National Anthem () was adopted as the sole official song of Argentina on 11 May 1813—three years after the May Revolution. Its lyrics were written by the Buenos Aires-born politician Vicente López y Planes and the music was com ...

adopted on May 11, 1813.

Early life

Baptized Alejandro Vicente, he never used his first name. López began his primary studies in the San Francisco School, and later studied in the Real Colegio San Carlos, today the Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires. He obtained a doctorate of laws in the University of Chuquisaca. He served as a captain in the Patriotic Regiment during the English invasions. After the Argentine victory he composed a poem entitled ''El triunfo argentino'' (The Argentine Triumph).

Political life

He participated in the Cabildo Abierto of May 22, 1810, and supported the formation of the

Primera Junta The Primera Junta ("First Junta") or ''Junta Provisional Gubernativa de las Provincias del Río de la Plata'' ("Provisional Governing Junta of the Provinces of the Río de la Plata"), is the most common name given to the first government of what ...

. He had good relations with

Manuel Belgrano Manuel José Joaquín del Corazón de Jesús Belgrano (3 June 1770 – 20 June 1820), usually referred to as Manuel Belgrano (), was an Argentina, Argentine public servant, economist, lawyer, politician, journalist, and military leader. He to ...

. When the royalist members of the city government of Buenos Aires were expelled, he was elected mayor of the city; he was an enemy of the party of

Cornelio Saavedra Cornelio Judas Tadeo de Saavedra y Rodríguez (September 15, 1759 – March 29, 1829) was an Argentine military officer and statesman. He was instrumental in the May Revolution, the first step of Argentina's independence from Spain, and became t ...

and one of the creators of the

First Triumvirate The First Triumvirate was an informal political alliance among three prominent politicians in the late Roman Republic: Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, Marcus Licinius Crassus, and Gaius Julius Caesar. The republican constitution had many veto points. ...

, of which he was the Treasurer. Like many other nineteenth century Argentines prominent in public life, he was a

freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

.The list includes Juan Bautista Alberdi, Manuel Alberti, Carlos María de Alvear, Miguel de Azcuénaga, Antonio González de Balcarce,

, Antonio Luis Beruti,

Juan José Castelli Juan José Castelli (19 July 176412 October 1812) was an Argentina, Argentine lawyer who was one of the leaders of the May Revolution, which led to the Argentine War of Independence. He led an ill-fated military campaign in Upper Peru. Juan Jo ...

, Domingo French, Gregorio Aráoz de Lamadrid,

Francisco Narciso de Laprida Francisco Narciso de Laprida (October 28, 1786 in San Juan – September 22, 1829) was an Argentine lawyer and politician. He was a representative for San Juan at the Congress of Tucumán, and its president on July 9, 1816, when the Declara ...

, Juan Larrea, Juan Lavalle, Vicente López y Planes,

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 ...

Mariano Moreno Mariano Moreno (; September 23, 1778March 4, 1811) was an Argentine lawyer, journalist, and politician. He played a decisive role in the Primera Junta, the first national government of Argentina, created after the May Revolution. Moreno was bor ...

, Juan José Paso, Carlos Pellegrini, Gervasio Antonio de Posadas,

Domingo Faustino Sarmiento Domingo Faustino Sarmiento (15 February 1811 – 11 September 1888) was President of Argentina from 1868 to 1874. He was a member of a group of intellectuals, known as the '' Generation of 1837'', who had a great influence on 19th-century Argent ...

, and

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 ...

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is known to have been a member of the

Lautaro Lodge The Lautaro Lodge () was a revolutionary secret lodge active in Latin American politics in the 19th century. It was initially known as the Lodge of Rational Knights (). Its initial purposes were to apply the goals of the Spanish Enlightenment, ...

; but whether the lodge was truly masonic has been debated: López was a member of the Constituent Assembly of year XIII, representing Buenos Aires. At the request of the Assembly, he wrote the lyrics to a "patriotic march", which eventually became the

. It was a military march, whose music was composed by the Catalan

Blas Parera Blas Parera Moret (3 February 1776 – 7 January 1840) was a Spanish music composer and teacher. He lived his part of his life in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was born in Murcia, Spain to two Catalan parents. In 1797, he moved to Buenos Aires w ...

; it was approved on March 11, 1813. The first public reading was at a

tertulia A ''tertulia'' (, ; ; ) is a social gathering with literary or artistic overtones, especially in Iberian Peninsula, Iberia or in Spanish America. Tertulia also means an informal meeting of people to talk about current affairs, arts, etc. The word ...

on May 7 in the house of Mariquita Sánchez de Thompson. It displaced a different march, written by Esteban de Luca, which would have been the anthem if not for the more militaristic Lopez. López participated in the government of Carlos María de Alvear, and with his fall he was sent to prison. He held a few more public offices, and was then named Secretary of the Constituent Congress of 1825, and, a little later, minister for the president

Bernardino Rivadavia Bernardino de la Trinidad González Rivadavia (May 20, 1780 – September 2, 1845) was the first President of Argentina, then called the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, from February 8, 1826 to June 27, 1827. He was educated at th ...

. After the scandal of negotiations with the

Brazilian Empire The Empire of Brazil was a 19th-century state that broadly comprised the territories which form modern Brazil and Uruguay until the latter achieved independence in 1828. The empire's government was a representative parliamentary constitutional ...

, Rivadavia resigned the presidency. In his place, López was elected as caretaker, signing the dissolution of the Congress and calling elections in Buenos Aires. The new governor,

Manuel Dorrego Manuel Dorrego (11 June 1787 – 13 December 1828) was an Argentine statesman and soldier. He was governor of Buenos Aires in 1820, and then again from 1827 to 1828. Early life and education Dorrego was born in Buenos Aires on 11 June 1787 t ...

took charge of the ministry; this unified the federalists. When Dorrego fell from grace and was executed by firing squad by Juan Lavalle, Lopez was exiled to

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

Late years

He returned in 1830 as a member of the Tribunal of Justice for

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 ...

. He was president of the Tribunal for many years and, among other things, presided over the judgement of the assassins of Juan Facundo Quiroga. He was president of the literary salon led by Marcos Sastre, but was not part of the group known as the Generation of '37, to which belonged his two sons, Vicente Fidel López and Lucio Vicente López.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez Y Planes, Vicente 1785 births 1856 deaths 19th-century presidents of Argentina Politicians from Buenos Aires Writers from Buenos Aires Argentine people of Spanish descent Presidents of Argentina 19th-century Argentine lawyers National anthem writers People of the Argentine War of Independence Burials at La Recoleta Cemetery University of Charcas alumni Argentine Freemasons

Early life

Political life

Late years

See also

References

External links