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Author: Robert

505. isaac fernández blanco

Published by Robert on 1 July 2013

Recoleta Cemetery, Buenos Aires, Isaac Fernández Blanco

Born in 1862, Isaac Fernández Blanco came from a family with an extensive history in the city of Corrientes. Isaac’s grandfather, Ángel, fought during independence wars against the Spanish but later moved to Buenos Aires, switching interests from politics to business.

In 1895, Isaac began to spend the family fortune on an impressive collection of Spanish colonial art. Even though an engineer by trade, his passion for period objects transformed the family house into a museum which eventually opened to the public. Isaac remained the museum’s honorary director until one year before his death in 1928.

Recoleta Cemetery, Buenos Aires, Isaac Fernández Blanco

Family members continued to add to Isaac’s collection, & in 1947 the museum found a new location: the Palacio Noel. The Neocolonial residence built by architect Martín Noel serves as the perfect backdrop for the collection:

Buenos Aires, Retiro, Museo Isaac Fernández Blanco, Palacio Noel

Buenos Aires, Retiro, Museo Isaac Fernández Blanco, Palacio Noel

Buenos Aires, Retiro, Museo Isaac Fernández Blanco, Palacio Noel

Buenos Aires, Retiro, Museo Isaac Fernández Blanco, Palacio Noel

Also buried in the family mausoleum is Naír Mercedes Fernández Blanco de Gowland, who founded the Asociación Guías Argentinas in 1953… during the last years of her life. The AGA is the local equivalent of the Girl Scouts, & a plaque reminds passersby of her contribution to Argentina:

Recoleta Cemetery, Buenos Aires, Naír F.B. de Gowland

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504. buenos aires rediscovered

Published by Robert on 17 June 2013

Buenos Aires, Fototipias Peuser

In Oct 2012, I unexpectedly found a blog with an interesting proposal titled Buenos Aires Rediscovered. As a long-time fan of before & after or then & now comparative photos, Ken’s mission hit close to home:

My great grandfather Alexander Ballantyne OBE was an engineer back in the days when Sun never set on the British Empire. After having served his apprenticeship in Scotland he set off around the world working aboard steam ships. One of these was the “Roma” which was built in Glasgow by the ship builders A & J Inglis. In 1926 my great grandfather set off to Buenos Aires on the Roma to deliver it to its new owners  —the Companía Argentina de Navigación (Nicolas Mihanovich) Ltd. They were the dominant force in shipping in Argentina and pretty much ran a monopoly. As well as delivering the ship he had to spend a bit of time in Buenos Aires to test the ship’s engines. When he left he was given a photograph album of Buenos Aires as a thank you present by the Companía Argentina de Navigación. It is this album which inspired this blog.

The fact that Ken put so much effort doing his own series of then & now pics using the 1920s album —in spite of never having visited Buenos Aires previously— inspired me to get in touch. I’ve tried to help by taking a few photos of places he couldn’t decipher… BA has changed a lot. I’m hoping we’ll be able to meet soon in London because I truly appreciate his work.

Buenos Aires, Fototipias Peuser, Mihanovich dedication, dedicatoria de Mihanovich.

Naturally, Recoleta Cemetery appeared in the book given to Ken’s great-grandfather. Below is the original photo, along with the newer version. Unfortunately that particular tree is no longer there, so Ken came up with a creative solution. Not bad at all. It’s difficult to be 100% accurate when the plaza in front of the cemetery has changed so often!

Buenos Aires, Fototipias Peuser, Recoleta Cemetery

Buenos Aires, Fototipias Peuser, Recoleta Cemetery

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503. coronel juan de dios rawson

Published by Robert on 5 June 2013

Recoleta Cemetery, Buenos Aires, Coronel Juan de Dios Rawson

Coronel Juan de Dios Rawson, whose father came from Massachusetts, fought in several battles during Argentina’s early years of organization, including the Guerra de la Triple Alianza. He was also the half brother of Dr. Guillermo Rawson. But his great-grandson, Arturo Rawson, became President of Argentina… for only 72 hours.

Rawson had a long career in the military & rose to the rank of General after several decades of service. As commanding officer of the cavalry, he possessed the troops needed to stage a successful coup d’etat already planned by the GOU (Grupo de Oficiales Unidos) in 1943. This secret, informal collection of officers aimed to end the Década Infame where electoral fraud kept the same people in power year after year.

Buenos Aires, Recoleta Cemetery, General Arturo Rawson

On 04 Jun 1943, Rawson marched 10,000 soldiers into Buenos Aires & took control of the country. While naming fellow officers to government positions & before he was sworn in as de facto President, the GOU realized they had made a mistake in asking Rawson for help. He supported the Allies in World War II while the GOU thought Argentina should remain neutral. Juan Domingo Perón, along with other GOU members, forced Rawson to resign & General Pedro Ramírez took his place.

For a brief period Rawson served as ambassador to Brazil. He also supported an attempted coup to overthrow Perón’s government in 1951. Rawson died of a heart attack the following year & did not live to see the eventual ousting of Perón in 1955.

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500. reflections

Published by Robert on 22 April 2013

Recoleta Cemetery, Buenos Aires, reflection

Time to celebrate… and take a look back. Honestly I don’t know how I managed to arrive at 500 posts about Recoleta Cemetery!

But it’s been a labor of love. I still remember my first visit to the cemetery in March 2000… wandering everywhere just to find Eva Perón’s tomb. In fact, the beauty of the place distracted me so much that I forgot about Evita until a few visits later! After moving to Buenos Aires, I developed a successful tour of the cemetery & had a crazy idea to map the entire place. Yep, I counted every single tomb, crypt, mausoleum, & cenotaph. Whew.

This blog came about in 2007 to help market that map but soon took on a life of its own. Despite a couple of long breaks & an extended stay in Australia, AfterLife continued to grow & gained readership… there’s no other English-language source like it. The map later transformed into a PDF guide & then an iPhone app with the birth of Endless Mile. Below are a few stats about this interesting journey:

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First post: 03 Oct 2007

Total # of posts: 500

Total word count: over 110,000 or about the size of a novel

Readership: averages between 4,500 & 5,000 unique visitors per month, about 300 per day. Amazing for a blog about a cemetery

Most comments: Liliana Crociati de Szaszak (currently 107)

Total number of photos posted: over 1,600… & only a few used elsewhere online without my permission!

Number of bilingual posts: currently 155, or 31%

People guided since 2003: just under 1,000! Remarkable since my groups average between 2-6 people. This number also includes maps & guides sold online.

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Here’s the big news: today & today only I’ll give away a free copy of the PDF guide to anyone who sends me their email address (robert AT recoletacemetery.com). Not only will this help spread the word about Recoleta Cemetery, but it gives everyone a chance to test drive an Endless Mile guide.

Thanks for everyone’s continued support!

Update: As of Aug 2015, the iPhone app is no longer for sale. And unfortunately the plug-in to toggle between Spanish & English text does not work with recent updates of WordPress… the mega-project of a bilingual website will have to wait a bit longer.

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499. general doctor benjamín victorica

Published by Robert on 15 April 2013

Recoleta Cemetery, Buenos Aires, Benjamín Victorica

Born in 1831 in Buenos Aires, Benjamín Victorica began a career in law… but after graduation went to work for the military of Juan Manuel de Rosas instead. The change seemed to suit him well, as he was staunchly anti-Urquiza. Victorica even wrote disparaging verse about the leader of the Confederación & famously called him apóstata maldito or “damned turncoat.”

After the defeat of Rosas in the 1852 Battle of Caseros, Urquiza personally requested to see Victorica. They became good friends almost immediately with Victorica even marrying Urquiza’s daughter, Ana Dolores, in 1857. Definitely a change of heart!

Recoleta Cemetery, Buenos Aires, Benjamín Victorica

Victorica decided to stay in the new national military & served as Urquiza’s personal secretary. His rise in power continued when named Minister of War by President Derqui in 1860, followed by a term as Senator, working for the Department of Education & even taught law classes.

Under Roca’s presidency, Victorica once again was named Minister of War & helped establish Argentine outposts in Tierra del Fuego. But his most infamous legacy was leading the campaign against the indigenous tribes in the Chaco region. Winning the conflict, Victorica raised the Argentine flag… topping the mast with the bloody head of Yaloschi, the Toba chief who fought Victorica’s troops.

Recoleta Cemetery, Buenos Aires, Benjamín Victorica

Various other offices occupied Victorica—not the least of which was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court—until he passed away in 1913. This crypt has also been used by Victorica’s seven children… tucked away in a quiet corner of the cemetery & covered with symbols of law & military service.

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