José Ignacio de Gorriti

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José Ignacio de Gorriti (born July 30, 1770 in San Salvador de Jujuy , Argentina , † November 9, 1835 in Charcas , Bolivia ) was an Argentine politician and general of the War of Independence . He was governor of the province of Salta several times and a member of that province at the Congreso de Tucumán in 1816 .

Life

Born to Ignacio de Gorriti Navarro and María Feliciana Coeto, he went to school with Franciscan Fathers and was then sent to Córdoba (Argentina) to study with his brother Juan Ignacio (who later became a famous theologian ) . In 1789, due to the death of his father, he had to return to Jujuy to manage the family-owned finca "Los Horcones" in the Rosario de la Frontera department . In 1802 he married Facunda Zuviría, with whom he had numerous children, including a daughter named Juana Manuela Gorriti , who would later become a famous writer and marry the future president of Bolivia , Manuel Isidoro Belzu .

With his personal financial commitment (which would ultimately cost him all of his fortune), he provided troops that fought against the English invasion of Buenos Aires in 1806 . In 1810 he was one of the most determined and committed representatives of the so-called May Revolution of the Argentine independence movement against Spanish colonial rule . As a revolutionary leader in Salta, he fought alongside Martín Miguel de Güemes and Manuel Belgrano and provided the Ejército del Norte with money, food and transport such as B. Mulis available. In 1816 he was elected by the people as a member of the Congress of San Miguel de Tucumán . He later became Minister of Güemes and several times Governor of Salta; As such, he campaigned for popular education, health and welfare, among other things , in a policy that was very progressive for the time and that was close to the Unitarios party .

In 1831 he had to flee to Bolivia together with his own large family and numerous other refugees due to a defeat against the enemy Caudillo Juan Facundo Quiroga from the Federales ; In 1835 he died completely impoverished in exile.

See also