Leader and Party in Latin America by Ernest Duff

Author:Ernest Duff [Duff, Ernest]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Latin America, General
ISBN: 9780813370194
Google: jB-HAAAAMAAJ
Goodreads: 3545701
Publisher: Westview Press
Published: 1984-12-01T00:00:00+00:00

The Leader

Hipólito Yrigoyen was born on July 12, 1852, in Buenos Aires. His father, Martin Yrigoyen Dodagaray, was a Basque immigrant, although none of the biographers seems to know when Martin emigrated to Argentina. Martin was, in the nature of the Basques, a hard worker. Although he had almost no education he soon went into the business of hauling people and goods from the ships arriving in the port to their final destination. By the time he was twenty-six, Martin had also been befriended by the Alem family, who by that time were operating a small dry-goods store on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. One of their daughters, Marcelina Antonia Alem Ponce, married Martin in 1847, and Hipolito was the first child of the union. The Alem family were native Argentines on both sides. Hipólito's grandfather, Don Leandro Antonio Alem, had been born in Buenos Aires in 1795, and had, for much of his adult life, been a minor official in the various regimes of the great caudillo of the early nineteenth century, Manuel Rosas Γ

This association with Rosas, and especially with a group of quasi-official thugs known popularly as "Mazorca," was to lead eventually to Don Leandro's execution by the Liberals under General Urquiza, who triumphed over Rosas in 1852, the same year Hipólito was born. Less than two years later, Hipólito's grandfather was killed by firing squad, and his body was left to hang in the Plaza de Concepcion for four hours after the execution. Thus was Hipolito Yrigoyen introduced to Argentine politics.

The period of youth and young adulthood was spent in comfortable financial circumstances, primarily under the roof of the Alem family. Martin gradually took over the family business, and managed to steer clear of politics. On the other hand, Hipolito's uncle, Leandro Alem was continually involved in the political struggles of the time, and was a major influence on the young Hipolito. This influence was strengthened when, at the age of ten, Hipólito was enrolled in the Colegio del America de Sud, a private secondary school for boys. Leandro Alem was a teacher in the school; teaching first and second years of philosophy. He popularized in his lessons some of his principal ideas, which his students assimilated. Hipólito remained at the Colegio until 1867, when he finished the secondary curriculum.

For the next ten years, Yrigoyen was employed in a variety of jobs, including lawyer's assistant, and local police official. He also entered the Law Faculty of the National University, but apparently, after successfully completing the first year of study, did not complete his degree. Instead, politics seemed to continually beckon, largely in the person of his uncle, Leandro Alem. Yrigoyen retained his post as police prefect while at the University, and on one occasion risked his life to protect his uncle from an armed group of political opponents. Finally, in 1878, Hipólito Yrigoyen was elected to the Chamber of Deputies. From that time on, Yrigoyen's life became a public one in an Argentina that was passing through a time of political troubles.

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