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Category: In the press

060. herrera-noble

Herrera-Noble, Recoleta Cemetery

Roberto Noble founded Clarín on 28 August 1945 & is currently the most widely distributed newspaper in Argentina with over 400,000 copies printed daily… notable for retaining the tabloid (not broadsheet) layout to this day. The entire first edition was released as a PDF for its 50th anniversary in 2005. Below is that first front page headlining the atomic bomb dropped in Nagasaki & subsequent end of World War II:

Clarín, first edition

After Noble passed away in 1969, his wife—Ernestina Herrera de Noble—has successfully managed the paper. In the 1990s, she branched the company into all types of media. Currently the Grupo Clarín owns:

  • an AM station (Radio Mitre)
  • an FM station (99.9)
  • the AGR publishing facility
  • multiple regional newspapers
  • a national news agency (DyN)
  • the Canal 13 Buenos Aires public tv channel
  • three major cable stations (24-hr news coverage with Todo Noticias, sports coverage with TyC & classic Argie programming with Volver)
  • the Multicanal & Cablevisión cable networks
  • much, much more!

Herrera de Noble appeared in the news in 2002 after being indicted for adopting two children during Argentina’s last military dictatorship (1976-83). The children were up for adoption since their parents had been killed by the government & supposedly figured among the nation’s estimated 30,000 desaparecidos. The trial was later ruled in Herrera de Noble’s favor & charges dropped. But the results weren’t good enough for some people… additional DNA screenings performed in December 2007 proved negative for two families claiming to be birth relatives. Important not only for healing wounds caused by a dictatorship 40 years ago, other families will likely think twice before attempting to claim the enormous fortune of Herrera de Noble.

The adopted children underwent further DNA screening in July 2011, with results compared to the national DNA database of families who had children stolen during the years 1975 & 1976. All results were negative & hopefully the issue has been put to rest. At this point, many feel a formal apology should be issued since President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner & Grupo Clarín have been at odds for years… CFK likely hoped to send Ernestina Herrera de Noble to prison for human rights violations.

The Sociedad Argentina de Actores y Compositores de Música left a beautiful wreath in January 2008 on the anniversary of Noble’s death. During his time as a Representative in Congress, Noble pushed through a 1933 law establishing intellectual property rights.

S.A.D.A.I.C. wreath, Recoleta Cemetery

Ernestina Herrera de Noble passed away on 14 June 2017 at the age of 92. Clarín published an extensive biography of her life & success at the helm of company holdings. Three weeks before she passed away, Herrera de Noble was absolved from another court case backed by CFK’s former government. Ernestina had the last word after all.

Buenos Aires, Recoleta Cemetery, Ernestina Herrera de Noble

Last image published in the online edition of Clarín.

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057. new york times, travel section

Our former walking tours of Recoleta Cemetery appeared in the 04 Feb 2007 travel section of the NYT:

To most visitors, the Recoleta Cemetery in the upscale Recoleta district (intersection of Junín and Guido) is known as the place where Eva Perón’s body is buried. But the graveyard is also the final home of several presidents, scientists and other influential Argentines. Urban Explorer [a company run by Robert from 2003 to 2008] offers a history-filled recorded tour through the Art Nouveau, Art Deco and Modernist-style mausoleums. Highlights include the tomb of Luis Ángel Firpo, an Argentine heavyweight who once knocked Jack Dempsey out of the ring.

The original article can be found here.

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041. map recommendation

Budget Travel magazine (published by Frommer’s) highlights Buenos Aires in their latest edition.

Budget Travel, Dec 07/Jan 08 issue

Among their suggestions for activities while in town is a visit to Recoleta Cemetery… & to buy a map from me. I couldn’t agree more 🙂

Budget Travel, Dec 07/Jan 08 issue

For more info, click on the “walking tour map” link in the left sidebar. Thanks to all those who have already purchased a map… proceeds help keep this blog going!

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035. clarín, 11 nov 2007

Very few burials in the city’s first public cemetery

Recoleta Cemetery, between tourism & abandon by Nora Sánchez

In plain sight are delapidated roofs, vegetation, unlocked doors, deteriorating caskets & broken glass & marble caused by lack of maintenance, theft, & vandalism. But each day it receives more & more Argentine & foreign tourists.

Each day Recoleta Cemetery receives hundreds of Argentine & foreign visitors. The total is calculated to be 1,500 per week, although guides say that there are more than 1,000 per day. But while tourism is on the rise, the actual functioning of what was the city’s first public cemetery is on the decline. In the first 6 months of this year there were 127 burials, less than one per day. As certain families have left no descendants, there are vaults decay due to lack of maintenance & forgetfulness. Tourists stroll between sepulchres with faded names & broken marble.

While searching for Evita’s tomb or discovering the sculpture by Lola Mora on the López Lecube family vault, the visitor encounters others not so well cared for. Like that of Luis Vernet, first governor of the Falkland Islands, which has broken ceiling vents. The July 2006 hailstorm was disastrous. Glass rooftop fixtures were destroyed & not all were replaced. There are coffins which are practically out in the open. “People who take my guided tours ask me why nothing is done for those monuments,” says historian Eduardo Lazzari of the Council of Historic Studies of Buen Ayre.

Broken casket, Recoleta Cemetery

“There are many neglected vaults, but that does not mean that they are abandoned,” states architect Antonio Constantino, head of the Dept of Works of the General Cemetery Administration. “In fact, they continue to serve their purpose. In some cases it is difficult to determine if the owners passed away completely or if they live in another city. Furthermore, a cemetery should not be pristine, & it’s ok that some tombs reflect the passage of time.”

Disorder can be seen in certain open vaults, as if someone had been digging for posthumous treasure. “Although it has been stopped with better private & public police surveillance, until recently antique dealers used the cemetery to collect items to sell,” reveals Constantino.

Cobwebs accentuate the gloomy atmosphere, broken by cats that sleep in the sun on top of certain tombs. Someone feeds them well between the sepulchres. Life also breaks through with plant life invading vaults where no one visits.

Vegetation, Recoleta Cemetery

“So-called abandoned vaults are really not abandoned: since they are private property, when the original owner dies they are passed on to their heirs,” explains Horacio Humberto Savoia, of the Friends’ Association of Recoleta Cemetery. “It’s true that in some cases it is difficult to find them but not impossible. We have contacted families who own vaults in poor condition &, under the guidance of our association, repairs have been done… even complicated restoration.” The entity collects funds by selling maps at the cemetery entrance for 4 pesos.

“For the last 10 years basic repairs have been done, from the walkway tiles to the drainage system & lighting,” says Constantino. “Two galleries of niches have also been restored so they can be used & the third will be repaired soon.”

But the vaults, granted under a law of perpetual concession, should be maintained by their owners. “Some [tombs] pre-date the existence of the Civil Code,” affirms Lazzari. “Since a new census/inventory has never been done, the present condition of all the tombs is unknown. And the property register is given to the owner.”

Owners pay an annual fee of 38 pesos per square meter for vaults that are valued from U$S 22,000 to numbers with 5 zeros. “There are those who pay the fee but fail to maintain the tomb,” says Constantino. “Sometimes damage from humidity in one vault affects its neighbor & if the owner can’t be found, we have to authorize the affected neighbor to repair both.”

In the stone of a sepulchre, a tourist named Andhy [sic] clumsily scratched, “Fuck him, yeah.” Also some vaults with niches have broken marble through which half-open boxes seem to creep out. “There is a lot of vandalism: last year some kids hid inside after closing hours & did a lot of damage at night,” tells Constantino. “The sword for the bronze statue at Lavalle’s tomb has been welded over 20 times because it’s constantly being pulled on. Finally it was decided to keep it in a safe place.”

“One time I counted how many people entered in one hour & the number was more than 1,000,” Lazzari points out. “People come in with bags & plaques have disappeared. Also the goths come here, kids who wear all black, to take pictures & shoot films. Once I saw a girl who only wore a black overcoat so she could have naked photos taken inside.”

Savoia, who led a protest against a light & sound show two years ago in the cemetery, adds: “You can’t lose sight that the purpose of a cemetery is that the dead rest in peace for eternity.” Lazzari, whose family also owns one of the vaults, assures: “It doesn’t bother me that people visit the cemetery, but the existing infrastructure is inadequate.”

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Original article in Spanish located here. Photos above are from Robert Wright.

While I think the general tone is sensationalist & lacks proposing solutions, some important points are raised. Recoleta Cemetery itself is far from neglected, but private property has suffered the brunt of Argentine history. When there are multiple political & economic crises, family tombs are not a priority. Providing for your living family is obviously much more important.

Since a number of vaults are classified as National Historic Monuments, the federal government needs to step in to maintain at least those chosen tombs & mausoleums. And in our 100s of visits to Recoleta Cemetery, neither Marcelo nor I have seen any vandalism or theft in progress. Not to say it doesn’t happen, but I think the article played it up a bit.

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