Category: Literati

Born in Buenos Aires in 1794, Juan Cruz Varela was sent by his parents to Córdoba to become a priest. But Varela completed his studies in 1816 just as Argentina won its independence from Spain & so chose to participate politics & literary ventures instead. Many scholars have classified his odes & tragedies as the best early Argentine literature written. Works often tackled the topics of the day, mainly the revolutionary wars & struggles of the new nation. In “Canto lírico al triunfo de Ituzaingó,” Varela describes General Carlos Alvear‘s victorious battle against Brazil & later wrote a eulogy for Manuel Belgrano:

¿Oh, dónde habitas, militar guerrero?
¿Cómo te fuiste, y huérfana dejaste
tu amada patria, que a la vez libraste
con los cortantes filos de tu acero?

Cómo le has dado el golpe postrimero,
e insensible a su llanto te ausentaste,
abandonando al último contraste
su libertad, su honor, su bien entero.

Que se encienda de nuevo, que se encienda
la antorcha de tu vida. Y si es en vano
nuestro justo clamor en la contienda

de tu afligida patria, pon la mano
sobre quien te suceda, y la defienda.
¡Pero quien te sucede, gran Belgrano!

As a friend & admirer of first President Bernardino Rivadavia, Varela was forced into exile with Rivadavia’s political defeat & the rise of Rosas. He died in Montevideo in 1839, & his remains were brought to Recoleta Cemetery after the defeat of Rosas.

An equally interesting descendant of Varela also buried in the family tomb is Dalmiro Varela Castex. A large plaque hints to his importance:

Dalmiro imported the first vehicle to Argentina in 1888, a steam-powered De Dion Bouton tricycle. In 1895 he imported a petrol-powered Benz four-wheeled vehicle & sold the tricycle to Marcelo T de Alvear. Importing & selling vehicles would become Dalmiro’s passion. In 1904, he founded the first automotive group, the Automovil Club Argentino (ACA) & was issued the first driver’s license in the nation:

For more info on Dalmiro & the history of automobiles in Argentina, Daniel Costa Deschamps has written an interesting memoir on the topic (in English). Above photo courtesy of prewarbuick.com. This tomb was declared a National Historic Monument in 1946.

Update (08 Feb 2012): Apparently this tomb was downsized. Part of the original gate was maintained & the mourning woman statue placed on top of the whole structure. It’s always looked a bit odd to me & thanks to photo #371 of the Witcomb Collection now I understand why:

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There’s not a more authentic Catalán name to be found in Recoleta Cemetery than Masllorens i Payerols. Substitute the “i” for a “y” for the Spanish version. Not much info is around as to why Pablo came from Catalunya to Buenos Aires, but the results of his labor are well known. Establishing the Emilio Ramírez publishing house, plaques come from former employees & managers, including one by artist Luis Perlotti:

What makes this tomb noteworthy is that the company founded by Masllorens compiled & sold the first edition of a major science fiction comic, “El Eternauta.” Originally published as a weekly series from 1957 to 1959, the whole strip was printed as a magazine by the Editorial Emilio Ramírez in 1961:

Here’s the plot… As an extraterrestrial invasion of Earth takes place, a few people in Buenos Aires figure out how to survive using specially made suits, protecting them from a deadly alien snowfall. A resistance army forms & battles are fought, but it becomes obvious that the true invaders aren’t around… they control everything from a distance. Juan Salvo, the protagonist, attempts to escape with his wife & daughter but accidentally triggers a time-travel device. The remainder of the series is about him trying to find them in the time continuum.

Sounds a bit normal now, but for the late 1950s the plot was very innovative. Various authors & artists have contributed to this successful story since then, & a single place in Buenos Aires pays tribute to El Eternauta… the subway station Uruguay on the B Line (north side, direction Alem). A tile mural depicts one of the comic panels. The first image is from Wikipedia & the rest are from Robert:

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