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205. francisco chas y familia

Francisco Chas, Recoleta Cemetery

The Chas family came to Argentina from a small town in Galicia much earlier than most immigrants. In fact, Francisco Chas y Pombo married the sister of independence hero Manuel Belgrano. Successful with a small supply store in the Plaza de Mayo marketplace, their son—Francisco Chas Belgrano—made the family fortune grow & earned a place in Buenos Aires high society.

The marriage of Francisco Chas Belgrano was fruitful… to say the least. His eight children became further integrated with the well-to-do; one daughter even married Ernesto Bunge, a major architect in Buenos Aires. Perhaps it was these upper class connections that led Chas to invest in real estate. By the time of his death in 1890, Chas owned several houses in Buenos Aires as well as land in several provinces. The family vault was built in Recoleta Cemetery for the death of Francisco.

Two years later, much of the Chas family property was sold by his children. Among the items for sale was the summer house in Belgrano where Chas & his wife passed away. Purchased by the mother of the Anchorena family, she gave the house as a wedding gift to daughter Josefina when she married Enrique Larreta:

Larreta house, Belgrano

The newlyweds hired architect Martín Noel to remodel the house in 1916, converting it into a Neocolonial masterpiece. It now functions as the Museo Municipal de Arte Español Enrique Larreta across the street from La Redonda:

Museo Larreta

Museo Larreta

However the most permanent reminder of the Chas family in Buenos Aires is a barrio named after them: Parque Chas. In the 1920s, one of the third-generation sons decided to urbanize some of the family’s land holdings. Originally developed as workers’ housing, the original homes were built as British-style chalets. A few still exist today. But it’s the street plan that most people recognize… concentric circles. Designed to make the area more commercially desirable (much like Barrio Parque in Palermo), the confusing layout is now the bane of taxi drivers. Below are comparative aerial photographs from the 1940s & 2000:

Parque Chas, 1940

Parque Chas, 2000

More information about the Chas family can be found on the neighborhood’s website.

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18 Comments

  1. Kate Castelo Kate Castelo

    would you know by any chance if there was an Ignacio Chas Mayo who was related to this family? thanks.

  2. Kate Kate

    Wow, I just saw your email response now. Sorry about that! And thank you for checking for me. I am wondering because my great grandfather, who was born in La Coruna, Espana, left Galicia and move to Bs As probably around that time. But I think he came to Argentina alone and not with a family. His name was Ignacio Chas Mayo. He started a bus line that went across South America called Linea de Autobuses La Plata. Anyhow, I am trying to find information about him. There is a long story behind it all but I am trying to pull together missing pieces of our family…

    Do you live in Argentina?

  3. Robert Robert

    Hi Kate – I guess better late than never, no? 🙂 Yep, I live in Buenos Aires.

    From my understanding, all members of the Chas family came from the village of the same name in Galicia. Ignacio may have been related to Francisco but probably only a distant cousin… Francisco moved here a couple centuries before buses were invented.

    Good luck with your search! If you find that they were related, please let me know & I can add a bit more info to this post. Thanks!

  4. hello I am rosary chas create qe soi one of the herederas of this cemetery and I what step despues of the history of francisco chas belgrano ,despues nacio the vis grandfather of my papa and despues his grandfather osea my vis grandmother eleodoro chas brush if they want to saver mas on this family mandemnme a malil to my post

    • Hola Rosario – Que tal? Gracias por el comentario que dejaste… Por supuesto que queremos saber mas sobre la familia Chas. Asi que esta todavia en uso la boveda? Pregunto porque hay muchas familias que ya no pagan y no se ocupan del mantenimiento. Tengo mil preguntas mas pero cualquier dato para agregar al post seria muy util. Thank you! 🙂 Saludos!

  5. Marina Marina

    Quisiera saber si en esa bóvedase encuentra Juana Belgrano de Chas. Este dato es de gran utilidad. para completar la historia de ella. Soy la presidente del Instituto Belgraniano de General Belgrano. Gracias

    • Hola Marina – Gracias por el comentario. Desgraciadamente no tenemos un listado de cada persona enterrada en el cementerio… pero si te contactas con Administración, ellos te pueden dar toda la información que necesitas. Suerte!

  6. mercedes Risch mercedes Risch

    Vivo eb Sudafrica, naci en Argentina, mi abuelo fue Ubaldo Luis Chas y mi Mama Olga Isabel Chas, estoy buscando datos de mi Abuelo que fue Gobernador del RRio Negro y Jefe de policia en La Pampa alreddedor del 1930??

  7. Antonella Antonella

    Hola soy Antonella de Mar del Plata Argentina , en mi arbol genealogico linea Materna tenga a Tomás Chas , como bisabuelo de mi abuela. Mi correo es antito88@hotmail.com , quisiera saber si Tomás Chas es el Hijo de Don Francisco Chas. Saludps

  8. mercedes avanzi chas mercedes avanzi chas

    Desde Sudafrica estoy buscando datos de mi abuelo Ubaldo Luis Chas, casado con Mercedes del Pilar Correa agradezco cualquier Informacion

  9. Me gustaría saber más sobre el origen de mi familia.
    Mi padre era Ubaldo Marcos Chas. y mi abuelo, Marcos Roman Chas.
    Mercedes Risch, me gustaria contactarme contigo, cual es tu dirección de email?

  10. Releí mi mensaje y encontre que hay errores, mi padre, era Ubaldo Marcos Chas, hijo de Marcos Román Chas, y nieto de Ubaldo Luis Chas, mi abuela paterna era María Elena Bonnet, y por los datos que envías, vos sos la hija de Tita Chas, que era tía de mi padre, o sea hermano de mi abuelo.
    Me gustaría contactarnos, porque nosotros si nos vimos eramos muy chiquitas.
    Este mensaje es para Mercedes Risch. Espero noticias.

  11. Hola María – Acabo de contactar a Mercedes Risch y le comenté lo que decías. También le pasé tu dirección de email. Espero que te contacte! Saludos!

  12. allen allen

    hello, I have a grandfather who died in Corrientes around 1955-1957. However his last name is written “Chaz” rather than “Chas.” Would you happen to know where I can find more information of the name variation? Is there a relationship between the two? His name was Don Esteban Chaz. Thank you.

    • Hello Allen – Chaz & Chas might be the same family but with different spelling variations. But Recoleta Cemetery is in Buenos Aires, far from Corrientes. I would suggest contacting someone from the main cemetery there to see if they have any information. Unfortunately, Recoleta Cemetery staff often do not respond to email requests for information. You might also try contacting the museum I mentioned in this post. Thanks for the comment.

  13. Walter Walter

    Buenas tardes, mi nombre es Walter A. Muñoz, estoy haciendo trabajos de investigación e historia de la Policía de Río Negro y encontré documentación oficial en la que aparece la firma y sello de UBALDO LUIS CHAS, mientras cumplía funciones como Jefe de Policía del Territorio de Río Negro. por si les interesa, mi correo electrónico es waltermunozsevilla@gmail.com. Tal vez desde aquí los pueda ayudar en algo, vivo en la Capital de Río Negro, Viedma. Saludos

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