monumento histórico nacional

As of 1940, a commission under the Secretary of Culture began to identify & catalog the nation’s heritage. Since its inception, the Comisión Nacional de Museos y Monumentos y Lugares Históricos has singled out 89 tombs of noted personalities & groups buried in Recoleta Cemetery, citing that it is:

The unavoidable duty of the Argentine people to demonstrate their gratitude to those who, for their public or private activity, made possible the current greatness of the nation… obliging the national government to watch over the maintenance & care of the sepulchers where their remains are kept.

What’s interesting is how many & when certain tombs were chosen. Below is a complete list of the commission’s selection along with the official decree #/year when each of the following tombs were chosen.

The first two under Decreto 30.837/45:

• Aristóbulo del Valle
• Miguel Estanislao Soler

Decreto 2.236/46 added three more the following year:

• Valentín Alsina
• Marcos Balcarce
• Dalmacio Vélez Sarfield (removed from this list in 1981 after the transfer of his remains to the Palacio de Justicia in Córdoba)

Later in 1946, the largest number was added… 53 under Decreto 3.039/46:

• Juan Bautista Alberdi
• Ignacio Álvarez Thomas
• Carlos de Alvear
• Adolfo Alsina
• Olegario Andrade
• Hilario Ascasubi
• Marco Avellaneda
• Nicolás Avellaneda
• Miguel de Azcuénaga
• Federico Brandsen
• Guillermo Brown
• Feliciano Antonio Chiclana
• Juan Cruz Varela
• Hilario de la Quintana
• Eustaquio Díaz Vélez
• Manuel Dorrego
• Francisco de Escalada
• Remedios de Escalada
• Juan Estanislao del Campo
• Pedro Ferré (removed from this list in 1964 after the transfer of his remains to the Corrientes cathedral)
• Gregorio Funes (removed from this list in 1949 after the transfer of his remains to the Córdoba cathedral)
• Juan A. Gelly y Obes
• Juan Ramón González Balcarce
• Tomás Guido
• Juan María Gutiérrez
• Ricardo Gutiérrez
• José Hernández
• Amadeo Jacques
• Juan Lavalle
• Lucio V. López
• Vicente López y Planes
• Vicente Fidel López
• Lucio Mansilla
• Domingo Matheu
• Bartolomé Mitre
• Bernardo Monteagudo
• Mariano Moreno
• Juan O’Brien
• Juan José Paso
• José María Paz (removed from this list in 1956 after the transfer of his remains to the Córdoba cathedral… his mausoleum would later hold the remains of Eduardo Lonardi, added to this list in 1960, see below)
• Juan Martín de Pueyrredón
• José M. Piran
• Juan Pujol
• Guillermo Rawson
• Julio Argentino Roca
• Martín Rodríguez
• Nicolás Rodríguez Peña
• Cornelio de Saavedra
• Antonio Sáenz
• María Sánchez de Mendeville
• Domingo Faustino Sarmiento
• Delfina Vedia de Mitre
• Juan José Viamonte

A few more stragglers from the same year under Decreto 12.086/46:

• Pedro José Díaz
• Wenceslao Paunero
• Emilio Mitre
• José de Olavarría
• Isidoro Suárez
• Francisco Muñiz
• José Manuel de Estrada
• Juan Florencio Terrada

Only one tomb was added the following year under Decreto 34.033/47:

• Francisco Seguí

And one more in 1951 under Decreto 15.090/51:

• Pedro Alcántara de Somellera

After the Perón years, evidently there were priorities other than national heritage. In the 1960s only eight tombs were added to the list. The first is the most surprising since Lonardi led the revolution against Perón & Lonardi’s tomb was listed only four years after his death. The minimum wait is typically 50 years to qualify for the list.

The law (not a decree in the following two cases) also states that the government will pay one million pesos for tomb upkeep. In 1960 U$S 1 = 83 pesos, so that’s over U$S 12,000… doesn’t seem like much but adjusting for inflation, that would be over U$D 80,000 today!

Ley 15.451 in 1960:

• Eduardo Lonardi

Ley 15.454 also in 1960 granted 2 million pesos for this tomb:

• Caídos en la Revolución del 1890

Decreto 1.259/62 added the first for 1962:

• Martiniano Leguizamón

Decreto 5.407/62 paid homage to Navy personnel, adding four:

• Erasmo Obligado
• Alejandro Murature
• José Murature
• Luis Piedrabuena (removed from this list after the transfer of his remains to Carmen de Patagones)

Decreto 5.485/64 added one more very important person:

• Carlos Pellegrini

Ten years would pass before any further additions. Decreto 649/1974 added only:

• Donato Álvarez

Several were added during the last military dictatorship. All additions were made individually from then to the present day. In other words, one tomb per decree. Of note is the addition on 26 July 1983 of the tomb of Luis Vernet, first governor of the Falkland Islands… a little over one year after Argentina lost the war.

• Jordan Czeslaw Wysocki, Decreto 2371/1976
• Salvador María del Carril, Decreto 1022/1979
• Ambrosio Plácido Lezica, Decreto 1327/1979
• Ramón Falcón, Decreto 1809/1981
• Emma Nicolay de Caprile, Decreto 508/1982
• José Antonio Terry, Decreto 1117/1982
• Luis Vernet, Decreto 1867/1983
• Pedro Benoit, Decreto 2317/1983
• Guerreros del Paraguay, Decreto 2464/1983
• Félix Benavides, Decreto 2465/1983

Of notable absence is a lack of heritage activity after democracy was restored in December 1983. No tombs in Recoleta Cemetery were added to the list during the governments of Alfonsín or Menem, nor following the economic crisis of 2001. Only during the last year of Néstor Kirchner’s term were two tombs added:

• Benjamín Paz, Decreto 124/2007
• Marcos Paz, Decreto 125/2007

Last but not least, the entrance gates of all three major cemeteries in Buenos Aires —Recoleta, Chacarita & San José de Flores— were listed as national heritage (Decreto 1289/2007). Although this is an extensive list, we feel many other vaults should be added either based on historical or architectural value. Regardless of political differences, Eva Perón should definitely be on the list. New additions will continue to be posted below.

Update (30 Dec 2011): The crypt of President Roque Sáenz Peña was declared a national historic monument in November 2011 (Decreto PEN Nº 1425/11).