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Month: July 2008

229. fitting final visit ◊

Published by Robert on 26 July 2008

During my last week in Buenos Aires before moving to Sydney, I wanted to make one final visit to Recoleta Cemetery. No camera, no notes… just stroll around & appreciate a place that I’ve come to know better than almost anyone. So today when Marcelo came up from La Plata to say goodbye, we decided to make that final visit together.

Good thing Mar brought his camera because it was the 56th anniversary of Eva Perón’s death. Talk about an appropriate day to make my final call. With almost the same amount of flowers as on her birthday, the crowds were larger & there was much more Peronista propaganda taped near her family vault.

Eva Perón, Recoleta Cemetery

The going was slow, so I read more praise while waiting:

Eva Perón, Recoleta Cemetery

Lots of posters covered the door & a married couple hung around, explaining to everyone what the fuss was about:

Eva Perón, Recoleta Cemetery

Eva Perón, Recoleta Cemetery

This was an interesting wreath given by the National Secretariat of the 62 Peronist Organizations… formed to keep the Peronist ideal alive after his ousting in 1955:

Eva Perón, Recoleta Cemetery

I’ve always thought that the surrounding families wouldn’t appreciate such a spectacle. Eva Perón doesn’t necessarily belong in Recoleta Cemetery—a subtle nuance that most visitors fail to understand. As a champion of the people & an enemy of the upper class, Eva should be resting in peace elsewhere rather than surrounded by those who would have likely hated her. So on any day when Peronistas make a fuss over the Duarte family vault, Eva’s neighbors get plastered with images which are probably not very agreeable to them.

Regardless of political implications, the day was perfect for my last visit to Recoleta Cemetery… until I return to Buenos Aires next year.

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228. historic photo 4

Published by Robert on 24 July 2008

AGN, 1953 pic, Recoleta Cemetery

The National Archives (Archivo General de la Nación) house a collection of about 50 historic photos of Recoleta Cemetery. The above photo, taken from the top of the entrance gate, dates from 1953 & shows that very little has changed over the past 50 years.

But compare this photograph to one from 1923 to see dramatic change… in the space of 30 years, all the highrises which now overlook the cemetery were built.

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227. map development 5

Published by Robert on 22 July 2008

In spite of a heavy workload & shifting focus to downtown Buenos Aires, I still considered publishing a guidebook to Recoleta Cemetery. But I couldn’t even find time to finish the map. As a compromise, I decided to publish a walking route of what I considered the Top 50 tombs to visit. It wouldn’t have the text of a guidebook, but I thought of it as the first step to a bigger project down the road.

During the summer of 2006-07, I stopped offering tours to work full-time on the map. By March 2007 it was ready for sale. There were a couple of typos that slipped by me, but for my first printed project I was happy with the final results. I had never dealt with printers before or even taken a course in graphic design. I couldn’t complain:

My map, Recoleta Cemetery

My map, Recoleta Cemetery

My map, Recoleta Cemetery

My map, Recoleta Cemetery

But distribution turned out to be a big problem. I talked with several kiosks around the city, & they wanted an extreme percentage of the profits. So that was out. I managed to obtain contact info for Horacio Savoia of the Friends’ Association of Recoleta Cemetery (ADACRE). I’d always thought to use them as my main distribution mechanism… they sell their own map plus other items at the entrance gate, so I offered to give them 10% of the sale price (2 pesos per map).

I explained that I did not want to compete with their own map but only needed a sales point if someone requested my version. I could promote my map online, & we’d all get something out of it in the long run. I’ve previously mentioned that the price of the ADACRE map is 4 pesos & part of that money goes to fund restoration projects as well as the salary for the women that sell the map. Considering I was willing to donate 2 pesos per map & not even have them actively market it, the proposal seemed fair.

The last I heard from Horacio was in July 2007:

Previo agradecer su atención paso a decirle que he recibido sus dos correos. Ambos los elevaré a la Comisión Directiva para que en su próxima reunión considere su propuesta. Lo tendremos al tanto de las novedades.

Thank you for your correspondence as I have received your two emails. I will present both to the Directive Commission so they can consider your proposal in their next meeting. We will keep you informed of any developments.

My response: Thank you very much, & I will await the response of the DC. I can deliver a copy of the map so that you have it for the next meeting.

Since there was no mention of when the next meeting would take place or even the slightest bit of gratitude for the two years of work put into the map, I wasn’t hopeful. In fact, I never heard from Horacio or any member of ADACRE again.

The whole scenario seems fairly typical for Buenos Aires. If you aren’t part of the clique, then you have no input. But since the cemetery had been neglected for so long & restoration work is expensive, it seems reasonable that anyone willing to donate cash would be welcome. Apparently not so.

My alternative was to start this blog & offer the map for sale via PayPal. It worked well since I’ve since recovered the cost of printing, but that map is no longer for sale. Better things are in the works… not involving the Friends’ Association.

Read the complete story in the following posts titled “map development”: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 6 & Part 7. Good news! The PDF guidebook is now available.

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225. guillermo brown ◊

Published by Robert on 18 July 2008

Guillermo Brown, Recoleta Cemetery

At the junction of eight intersecting walkways Guillermo, or William, Brown could not find a more prominent spot to rest in peace. Born in Ireland in 1777, his family fled to the US to escape religious persecution. Brown became a merchant marine & earned the title of captain at the young age of 19. In an odd twist of fate, he was captured by the British at sea & later joined the Royal Navy. England was turning out naval greats like Horatio Nelson at the end of the 18th century, so Brown was in the right place at the right time.

Brown also met his wife while in England, & their household became a model of tolerance at the time mixing Irish Catholic & British Protestant members. Soon after their marriage, the Browns arrived in Argentina. He ran trade between Montevideo & Buenos Aires, acquiring enough money to buy his own boat & a large mansion. After independence, Brown offered his services to the new nation & helped found the Argentine Navy.

Over the next 35 years he served Argentina well by winning battles against Brazil & impeding the British-French naval blockade. Brown died in 1857 in Buenos Aires at the ripe old age of 80. His final rites were performed by fellow Irishman Father Fahy, whose cenotaph can be found directly across from Brown.

A single Corinthian column topped with a model of a ship & wind-blown sails is tall enough to compete with neighboring trees. Naturally the green color makes reference to his Irish origins, although I’ve read that the monument was not initially painted green:

Guillermo Brown, Recoleta Cemetery

Around the base of the column, silver-painted plaques depict naval battles he won for Argentina against Brazil:

Guillermo Brown, Recoleta Cemetery

Brown’s ashes are conserved in a bronze urn, cast from cannons of ships he commanded, seen through an etched glass pane:

Guillermo Brown, Recoleta Cemetery

Barely visible behind his urn are the remains of his daughter, Elisa. She was engaged to be married to a captain under her father’s command, but during the war with Brazil her fiancée was killed. Many guides like to embellish the already tragic story by claiming a distraught Elisa drowned herself in the Riachuelo, but this is not true. Elisa did die in the Riachuelo but from a tragic accident while bathing, slipping into an unseen hole:

Guillermo Brown, Recoleta Cemetery

Lots of text around the base honor Brown’s accomplishments & was declared a National Historic Monument in 1946:

Guillermo Brown, Recoleta Cemetery

Guillermo Brown, Recoleta Cemetery

Guillermo Brown, Recoleta Cemetery

Brown’s wife could not be buried alongside him because non-Catholic burials were not allowed in Recoleta Cemetery at that time. She was laid to rest in the Cementerio de Victoria, now Plaza 1º de Mayo, used by both Protestant & Jewish residents.

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