![\"Lucio](\"http:\/\/www.recoletacemetery.com\/images\/201002A20.jpg\" "\\"Lucio")
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Lucio Victorio Mansilla was, like Ascasubi<\/a>, a man whose life could have been a novel. Mansilla embodied the Romantic character: military man, writer, traveler, bon vivant<\/em>.<\/p>\n Mansilla was born in Buenos Aires in 1831… son of Coronel Lucio Mansilla & Agustina Rozas, sister of Juan Manuel de Rosas<\/strong>, who they called “the star of the Federation.” As a teenager, his parents sent him on a trip to Asia, the Middle East & Europe in order to discourage a love “that was not to his convenience.” Young Lucio traveled through India, Egypt & Turkey as well as France, Italy & England. Those travels would later become material for future works of literature.<\/p>\n After the fall of Rosas, Mansilla’s family moved to France for a year. Lucio married his cousin, Catalina Ortiz de Rosas y Almada, after their return. He challenged Jos\u00e9 M\u00e1rmol<\/a> to a duel in 1856, thinking that the writer had offended his father in the novel “Am\u00e1lia.” The future author was exiled for three years & later sent to fight in the war against Paraguay<\/a>:<\/p>\n In 1868 Mansilla supported Sarmiento<\/a> in his bid for President, who later designated him as frontier commander in R\u00edo IV, C\u00f3rdoba. From there, he embarked on a journey south to defend a peace treaty with the ranquel<\/em>\/rank\u00fclche <\/em>tribe. Mansilla spent 18 days with them & wrote his experiences down to be published in the “La Tribuna<\/em>” newspaper. His style was colloquial & included many stories, even those told by the campfire. They were published together as “A Visit to the Ranquel Indians<\/a>,” one of the most striking works of Argentine literature.<\/p>\n Below is an 1868 photo of Mansilla (center, wearing a cape) in what is now Plaza Roca in R\u00edo IV… two years before leaving for ranquel <\/em>territory:<\/p>\n From 1876 until his 1913 death in Paris, Mansilla occupied a large number of political positions & published a number of books. But the most important experience of his life—living through & telling his time among the indigenous people of Argentina—had already passed. Mansilla rests in peace in the family vault with his mother & father, & this vault was declared a National Historic Monument<\/a> in 1946:<\/p>\n Update (29 Aug 2012):<\/strong> Interestingly, David William Foster of Arizona State University considers Mansilla’s tales of the ranqueles<\/em> as\u00a0“one of the great classics of nineteenth-century Argentine prose, ranking perhaps only behind Sarmiento’s\u00a0Facundo<\/em>.” More info can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Photo of Mansilla in R\u00edo IV courtesy of the area’s Regional Historic Museum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Lucio Victorio Mansilla was, like Ascasubi, a man whose life could have been a novel. Mansilla embodied the Romantic character: military man, writer, traveler, bon…<\/p>\n![\"Lucio](\"http:\/\/www.recoletacemetery.com\/images\/201002A18.jpg\" "\\"Lucio")
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<\/p>\n![\"Lucio](\"http:\/\/www.recoletacemetery.com\/images\/201002A22.jpg\" "\\"Lucio")
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