Bernardino Rivadavia

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Bernardino Rivadavia (1780-1845) was a leader in Argentina's efforts to secure independence and after the break with Spain introduced a vast body of reforms to provide a sound basis for the newly independent country.

Bernardino Rivadavia was born a citizen of Spain's colonial empire. Reared and educated in Buenos Aires, capital of the viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata, he was an early advocate of independence. In 1810 he joined the meeting of leading citizens which ousted the Spanish viceroy and secured virtual independence.

Newly independent Argentina was groping for stable government, and in 1811 a triumvirate replaced the revolutionary junta. Rivadavia served first as a secretary and then as a full member of the governing body. He was a zealous innovator, introducing all manner of reforms and institutions into the sociopolitical vacuum left by the disintegration of the colonial edifice.

With phenomenal breadth of interest, Rivadavia offered a staggering array of proposals for the developing nation. Greatly concerned with human rights, he supported decrees designed to guarantee civil liberties for all citizens, male and female. Logically, then, he sought to strip both the Roman Catholic Church and the military of the special privileges he felt inappropriate in the envisioned egalitarian society. He realized that a responsive and viable government would protect and encourage national growth, so he implemented electoral and structural reforms, making Buenos Aires a model for other provinces. The average citizen, he believed, needed education in order to operate the hoped-for democracy, so he pressed for educational improvements on all levels. He felt that happiness depended on at least a modicum of material prosperity and insisted on commercial reforms, ranging from freer commerce to the introduction of new mining and agricultural processes. These are but a sampling of the innovations, none of them an unqualified success, which leaped from Rivadavia's fertile mind.

Rivadavia also served his nation in the field of diplomacy, twice traveling to Europe on delicate missions and filling the office of foreign minister. His successes included persuading both Great Britain and the United States to recognize Argentina's independence from Spain. Further, his trips to Europe gave him the chance to savor the concepts of such thinkers as Bentham, Adam Smith, Jovellanos, and Campomanes.

In 1826 a constitutional congress named Rivadavia president of Argentina. Although that body's action was technically without legal sanction, Rivadavia carried out his duties to the fullest extent. But he soon ran into difficulties. An inconclusive war with Brazil drained the government's resources and stirred much resentment. His promulgation of a rather centralist constitution excited the wrath of jealous provincial chieftains. Faced with unrelenting opposition, he resigned in 1827.

Forced into exile by his enemies, Rivadavia wandered in Latin America and Europe for several years. He died in Cadiz, Spain. He left a rich heritage of reforms and institutions which, in more fortuitous times, Argentina would eagerly resurrect.

Further Reading

Hubert Clinton Herring, A History of Latin America: From the Beginnings to the Present (1955; 3d rev. ed. 1968), gives an excellent short sketch of Rivadavia, putting him in proper historical perspective. A section on him is in George Washington University, South American Dictators during the First Century of Independence, edited by Alva Curtis Wilgus (1937). An outstanding account of Rivadavia's political work is in José Luis Romero, A History of Argentine Political Thought (1946; 3d ed. 1959; trans. 1963).

Bernardino Rivadavia
1st President of Argentina
In office February 8, 1826 – July 6, 1827
Preceded by	Juan Gregorio de Las Heras(Governor of Buenos Aires)
Succeeded by	Vicente López
Born	May 20, 1780(1780-05-20) Buenos Aires
Died	September 2, 1845 (aged 65) Cádiz, Spain
Nationality	Argentine
Political party	Unitarian
Spouse(s)	Juana del Pino y Vera

Bernardino de la Trinidad Gónzalez Rivadavia y Rivadavia (May 20, 1780 – September 2, 1845) was the first president of Argentina, from February 8, 1826 to July 7, 1827.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Government 4 See also 5 Further reading 6 References

Early life

Rivadavia was born in Buenos Aires in 1780. In 1809 he married with Juana del Pino y Vera, daughter of the viceroy of the Río de la Plata, Joaquín del Pino.

Career

Rivadavia was active in both the Argentine resistance to the British invasion of 1806 and in the May Revolution movement for Argentine Independence in 1810. In 1811, Rivadavia became the dominating member of the governing triumvirate as Secretary of the Treasury and Secretary of War. Until its fall in October 1812, this government focused on creating a strong central government, moderating relations with Spain, and organizing an army.

Rivadavia was later sent to Europe to improve Argentine relations with Britain and Spain. He returned six years later, in May 1821.

In June 1821, he was named minister of government to Buenos Aires governor Martín Rodríguez. Over the next five years, he exerted a strong influence, and focused heavily on improving Buenos Aires city, often at the expense of greater Argentina. To make the former look more European, Rivadavia constructed large avenues, schools, paved and lighted streets. He founded the University of Buenos Aires, as well as the Theater, Geology, and Medicine Academies and the continent's first museum of natural science.

He persuaded the legislature to authorize a one-million pound loan for public works that were never undertaken. The provincial bonds were sold in London through the Baring Brothers Bank, local and Buenos Aires-based British traders also acting as financial intermediaries. The borrowed money was in turn lent to these businessmen, who never repaid it. Of the original million pounds the Buenos Aires government received only £552,700. The province's foreign debt was transferred to the nation in 1825, its final repayment being made in 1904.

A strong supporter of a powerful, centralized government in Argentina, Rivadavia often faced violent resistance from the opposition federalists. In 1826, Rivadavia was elected the first President of Argentina. During his term he founded many museums, and expanded the national library.

Government

His government had many problems, primarily an ongoing war with Brazil over territory in modern Uruguay and resistance from provincial authorities. Faced with the rising power of the Federalist Party and with several provinces in open revolt, Rivadavia submitted his resignation on June 29, 1827. He was succeeded by Vicente López y Planes. At first he returned to private life, but fled to exile in Europe in 1829.

Rivadavia returned to Argentina in 1834 to confront his political enemies, but was immediately sentenced again to exile. He went first to Brazil and then to Spain, where he died September 2, 1845. He asked that his body would never be brought back to Buenos Aires.

See also

• List of heads of state of Argentina

Further reading

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• David Bushnell, Reform and Reaction in the Platine Provinces 1810-1852 (Gainesville, Florida, 1983)
• Miron Burgin, The Economic Aspects of Argentine Federalism, 1820-1852 (Cambridge, 1946)
• H.S. Ferns, Britain and Argentina in the Nineteenth Century (Oxford, 1960)
• Jonathan Harris, 'Bernardino Rivadavia and Benthamite "discipleship"', Latin American Research Review 33 (1998), 129-49
• John Lynch, Argentine Dictator. Juan Manuel de Rosas 1829-1852 (Oxford, 1981)
• Ricardo Piccirilli, Rivadavia y su tiempo, 2 vols. (Buenos Aires, 1943)

References

Preceded by None

President of Argentina 1826–1827

Succeeded by Vicente López y Planes

v • d • e Heads of state of Argentina Supreme Directors (1814–1820) Gervasio Antonio de Posadas · Carlos María de Alvear · Ignacio Álvarez Thomas · Antonio González de Balcarce · Juan Martín de Pueyrredón · José Rondeau First presidential government (1826–1827) Bernardino Rivadavia · Vicente López y Planes Argentine Confederation and Republic (1827–1880) Manuel Dorrego · Juan Manuel de Rosas · Juan Ramón Balcarce · Juan José Viamonte · Manuel Vicente Maza · Juan Manuel de Rosas · Justo José de Urquiza · Santiago Derqui · Juan Esteban Pedernera · Bartolomé Mitre · Domingo Faustino Sarmiento · Nicolás Avellaneda The Generation of 1880 (1880–1916) Julio Argentino Roca · Miguel Juárez Celman · Carlos Pellegrini · Luis Sáenz Peña · José Evaristo Uriburu · Julio Argentino Roca · Manuel Quintana · José Figueroa Alcorta · Roque Sáenz Peña · Victorino de la Plaza First Radical Terms (1916–1930) Hipólito Yrigoyen · Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear · Hipólito Yrigoyen Infamous Decade (1930–1943) José Félix Uriburu · Agustín Pedro Justo · Roberto María Ortiz · Ramón Castillo Revolution of '43 (1943–1946) Arturo Rawson · Pedro Pablo Ramírez · Edelmiro Julián Farrell First Peronist Terms (1946–1955) Juan Domingo Perón Liberating Revolution (1955–1958) Eduardo Lonardi · Pedro Eugenio Aramburu Argentine Republic (1958–1966) Arturo Frondizi · José María Guido · Arturo Umberto Illia Revolución Argentina (1966–1973) Juan Carlos Onganía · Roberto M. Levingston · Alejandro Agustín Lanusse Second Peronist Term (1973–1976) Héctor José Cámpora · Raúl Alberto Lastiri · Juan Domingo Perón · Isabel Martínez de Perón National Reorganization Process (1976–1983) Jorge Rafael Videla · Roberto Eduardo Viola · Leopoldo Galtieri · Reynaldo Bignone Return to Democracy (1983–present) Raúl Alfonsín · Carlos Menem · Fernando de la Rúa · Adolfo Rodríguez Saá · Eduardo Duhalde · Néstor Kirchner · Cristina Fernández de Kirchner

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