Argentine lawyer, diplomat and politician
Bernardo de Irigoyen
(December 18, 1822 ? December 27, 1906) was an
Argentine
lawyer, diplomat and politician.
Biography
[
edit
]
Born in
Buenos Aires
, Irigoyen enrolled at the
University of Buenos Aires
and earned a
juris doctor
in 1843. He was commissioned by Governor
Juan Manuel de Rosas
to settle a boundary dispute with
Chile
(Rosas was charged with the
Argentine Confederation
's foreign policy during his 1835?1852 reign), and from 1844 to 1850, Irigoyen served as Justice Minister in
Mendoza Province
, where he enacted the first provincial judicial system, as well as reformist
military law
and
land law
statutes.
He again negotiated with Chile over the disputed
Straits of Magellan
(1851), and following Rosas' overthrow, helped draft the 1852
San Nicolas Agreement
. He participated in the
constitutional assembly
that paved the way for the 1860 reunification with secessionist
Buenos Aires Province
, and was nominated to the
Argentine Supreme Court
; he refused, however, and resumed his private practice.
Irigoyen returned to public life in 1870 as a provincial legislator, and in 1875, was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs by President
Nicolas Avellaneda
. He negotiated boundary treaties with
Brazil
and
Paraguay
in the wake of the
Paraguayan War
against the latter nation, and was named Internal Affairs Minister in 1879, during which tenure he drafted the 1880
federalization of Buenos Aires
. He was returned to the Foreign Minister's post by Avellaneda's successor, President
Julio Roca
, and secured the
boundary treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina
.
He was elected to the
Argentine Senate
in 1884, and ran unsuccessfully for President in 1886. He later represented Argentina in talks with
U.S. Secretary of State
James Blaine
for the formation of a
Pan-American Congress
; ultimately, however, the Argentine relationship with the
British Empire
led Irigoyen, who was otherwise amenable to the idea, to reject Blaine's proposals for closer economic ties with the
United States
.
Irigoyen joined
Bartolome Mitre
,
Leandro Alem
, and others in establishing the
Civic Union
in 1890. Formed to challenge the paramount
National Autonomist Party
(PAN), the Civic Union organized its first presidential ticket in 1892. Irigoyen was nominated as Mitre's running mate, though before the campaign could begin in earnest, Alem's opposition led to Mitre's quitting the race. Irigoyen attempted to create a coalition of more conservative Civic Union figures and reformists from within the ruling PAN. His faction, however, was overshadowed by
Hipolito Yrigoyen
's newly formed
Radical Civic Union
, which espoused a policy of "breaking before bending" on the subject of
electoral reforms
to the undemocratic system then prevailing.
The aging lawmaker ran instead, in 1898, for Governor of Buenos Aires Province, and was elected, serving until 1902. Bernardo de Irigoyen retired afterwards and died in Buenos Aires in 1906. His death deprived the influential former President Roca of one of his most respected allies, and Roca's hegemony over national policy ended shortly afterwards.
References
[
edit
]
- Historical Dictionary of Argentina
. London: Scarecrow Press, 1978.
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