Antonio Álvarez Jonte
Encyclopedia
Antonio Álvarez Jonte was an Argentine
politician
. He was born in Madrid
in 1784 and moved with parents to Córdoba
when young. He studied law at Córdoba University and obtained his doctorate
at the Real Universidad de San Felipe in Santiago de Chile. He opened a law practice in Buenos Aires, and lived there at the time of the British invasions
. He offered his services as volunteer in the militia but was declined due to poor health.
in 1810. After the revolution, the newly constituted Primera Junta
sent him to Chile
to try to foment a similar revolution there. This happened in October 1810, and Álvarez Jonte became the first Argentine ambassador to this country.
Towards the end of 1810 he was in Buenos Aires and he joined Mariano Moreno
's revolutionary group. The Junta named him member of the Cabildo
, where he pressed to dissolve the governing Junta when news of the Battle of Huaqui
disaster arrived. He supported the formation of the First Triumvirate
, and by their initiative he was named again rector of the Cabildo for the year 1812. He moved to the opposition when the government of Rivadavia
dissolved the first national assembly in 1812.
Álvarez Jonte joined the Lautaro lodge
, founded by Alvear
and San Martín
, and supported the October 1812 revolution, (started by San Martín after the arrival of the news of the military victory at the Battle of Tucumán
). By this movement the First Triumvirate was dissolved and replaced by a Second Triumvirate
, formed by Juan José Paso
, Nicolás Rodríguez Peña
, and Álvarez Jonte. A short while later Paso was replaced by José Julián Pérez, and a few months later, Rodríguez Peña was replaced by Gervasio Posadas, Alvear's uncle.
In reality, the government was controlled by the Lautaro Lodge and by Alvear. The Triumvirate called for a National Constitutional Assembly
, dominated by Buenos Aires where most of the deputies from the interior of the country were named by the Lodge, in Buenos Aires. The Assembly did not meet its objectives, not having declared independence from Spain, nor sanctioning any constitution.
By the end of 1813, Juan Larrea
(a rich and influential friend of Alvear and of British commerce) replace Álvarez Jonte, who was named to lead the commission investigating the military defeats at Vilcapugio
and Ayohuma
.
. In early 1814 he reorganized the government of Tucumán Province
. Was then named as military comptroller
to the Army of the North
during the short period where its commander in choief was San Martín. Álvarez Jonte then returned to Buenos Aires, where he served as general war comptroller, and worked in this post during the brief government of Alvear.
After the mutiny that led to the Alvear's fall from government, he was exiled to London. There he joined the local Lautaro Lodge and dedicated himself to the formation of a navy squadron for Chile, recently liberated from Spain by San Martín, supporting the latter's plans to attack the Viceroyalty of Peru
by sea.
He arrived in Chile with Admiral Thomas Cochrane
in November 1818, with the navy's ships intended to move the Army of the Andes
to Peru. Even though he fell ill, he was named army comptroller and secretary to San Martín. He accompanied Cochrane in the first naval campaign to the port of El Callao.
In August 1820 he embarked with San Martín towards Peru again. A short time after arriving, he fell gravelly il and died in October 1820 in the port of Pisco.
An avenue in Buenos Aires's Monte Castro
neighborhood, is named after him.
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
. He was born in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
in 1784 and moved with parents to Córdoba
Córdoba, Argentina
Córdoba is a city located near the geographical center of Argentina, in the foothills of the Sierras Chicas on the Suquía River, about northwest of Buenos Aires. It is the capital of Córdoba Province. Córdoba is the second-largest city in Argentina after the federal capital Buenos Aires, with...
when young. He studied law at Córdoba University and obtained his doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
at the Real Universidad de San Felipe in Santiago de Chile. He opened a law practice in Buenos Aires, and lived there at the time of the British invasions
British invasions of the Río de la Plata
The British invasions of the Río de la Plata were a series of unsuccessful British attempts to seize control of the Spanish colonies located around the La Plata Basin in South America . The invasions took place between 1806 and 1807, as part of the Napoleonic Wars, when Spain was an ally of...
. He offered his services as volunteer in the militia but was declined due to poor health.
Second Tiumvirate
Álvarez Jonte took part on the preparations for the May RevolutionMay Revolution
The May Revolution was a week-long series of events that took place from May 18 to 25, 1810, in Buenos Aires, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, a Spanish colony that included roughly the territories of present-day Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay...
in 1810. After the revolution, the newly constituted Primera Junta
Primera Junta
The Primera Junta or First Assembly is the most common name given to the first independent government of Argentina. It was created on 25 May 1810, as a result of the events of the May Revolution. The Junta initially had representatives from only Buenos Aires...
sent him to Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
to try to foment a similar revolution there. This happened in October 1810, and Álvarez Jonte became the first Argentine ambassador to this country.
Towards the end of 1810 he was in Buenos Aires and he joined Mariano Moreno
Mariano Moreno
Mariano Moreno was an Argentine lawyer, journalist, and politician. He played a decisive role in the Primera Junta, the first national government of Argentina, created after the May Revolution....
's revolutionary group. The Junta named him member of the Cabildo
Buenos Aires Cabildo
The Buenos Aires Cabildo is the public building in Buenos Aires that was used as seat of the ayuntamiento during the colonial times and the government house of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata...
, where he pressed to dissolve the governing Junta when news of the Battle of Huaqui
Battle of Huaqui
The Battle of Huaqui , was a battle between the Primera Junta's revolutionary troops and the royalist troops of the Viceroyalty of Peru on the border between Upper Peru, , and the Viceroyalty of Peru on June 20, 1811.- Prelude :The army commanded by Juan...
disaster arrived. He supported the formation of the First Triumvirate
First Triumvirate (Argentina)
The First Triumvirate was the executive body of government that replaced the Junta Grande in the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata...
, and by their initiative he was named again rector of the Cabildo for the year 1812. He moved to the opposition when the government of Rivadavia
Bernardino Rivadavia
Bernardino de la Trinidad Gónzalez Rivadavia y Rivadavia was the first president of Argentina, from February 8, 1826 to July 7, 1827 . He was a politician of the United Provinces of Río de la Plata, Argentina today...
dissolved the first national assembly in 1812.
Álvarez Jonte joined the Lautaro lodge
Logia Lautaro
The Lautaro Lodge was a revolutionary secret lodge active in Latin American politics in the 19th Century. It was initially known as the Lodge of Rational Knights .Its initial purposes were to apply the goals of the Spanish Enlightenment, and when Spain began the Absolutist Restauration they...
, founded by Alvear
Carlos María de Alvear
Carlos María de Alvear was an Argentine soldier and statesman, Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata in 1815....
and San Martín
José de San Martín
José Francisco de San Martín, known simply as Don José de San Martín , was an Argentine general and the prime leader of the southern part of South America's successful struggle for independence from Spain.Born in Yapeyú, Corrientes , he left his mother country at the...
, and supported the October 1812 revolution, (started by San Martín after the arrival of the news of the military victory at the Battle of Tucumán
Battle of Tucumán
The Battle of Tucumán was a battle fought on 24 and 25 September 1812 near the Argentine city of San Miguel de Tucumán, during the Argentine War of Independence. The Army of the North, commanded by General Manuel Belgrano, defeated the royalist troops commanded by General Pío de Tristán, who had a...
). By this movement the First Triumvirate was dissolved and replaced by a Second Triumvirate
Second Triumvirate (Argentina)
The Second Triumvirate was the governing body of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata that followed the First Triumvirate in 1812, shortly after the May Revolution, and lasted 2 years....
, formed by Juan José Paso
Juan José Paso
Juan José Paso, was an Argentine politician who participated in the events that started the Argentine War of Independence known as May Revolution of 1810....
, Nicolás Rodríguez Peña
Nicolás Rodríguez Peña
Nicolás Rodriguez Peña was an Argentine politician. Born in Buenos Aires in April 1775, he worked in commerce which allowed him to amass a considerable fortune. Among his several successful businesses, he had a soap factory partnership with Hipólito Vieytes, which was a center of conspirators...
, and Álvarez Jonte. A short while later Paso was replaced by José Julián Pérez, and a few months later, Rodríguez Peña was replaced by Gervasio Posadas, Alvear's uncle.
In reality, the government was controlled by the Lautaro Lodge and by Alvear. The Triumvirate called for a National Constitutional Assembly
Asamblea del Año XIII
The Assembly of Year XIII was a meeting called by the Second Triumvirate governing the young republic of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata on October 1812....
, dominated by Buenos Aires where most of the deputies from the interior of the country were named by the Lodge, in Buenos Aires. The Assembly did not meet its objectives, not having declared independence from Spain, nor sanctioning any constitution.
By the end of 1813, Juan Larrea
Juan Larrea (politician)
Juan Larrea was a Spanish businessman and politician in Buenos Aires during the early nineteenth century. He headed a military unit during the second British invasion of the Río de la Plata, and worked at the Buenos Aires Cabildo. He took part in the ill-fated Mutiny of Álzaga...
(a rich and influential friend of Alvear and of British commerce) replace Álvarez Jonte, who was named to lead the commission investigating the military defeats at Vilcapugio
Battle of Vilcapugio
The Battle of Vilcapugio was an action fought on October 1, 1813 during the second Campaign of Upper Peru in the Argentine War of Independence, where the republican forces led by General Manuel Belgrano were defeated by a pro-Spanish royalist army, led by Joaquin de la Pezuela.The campaign was...
and Ayohuma
Battle of Ayohuma
The Battle of Ayohuma was an action fought on 14 November 1813, during the second Upper Peru Campaign of the Argentine War of Independence...
.
Collaboration with San Martín
Álvarez Jonte travelled to Tucumán to start the investigations and legal proceedings, but later he declined to judge general BelgranoManuel Belgrano
Manuel José Joaquín del Corazón de Jesús Belgrano , usually referred to as Manuel Belgrano, was an Argentine economist, lawyer, politician, and military leader. He took part in the Argentine Wars of Independence and created the Flag of Argentina...
. In early 1814 he reorganized the government of Tucumán Province
Tucumán Province
Tucumán is the most densely populated, and the smallest by land area, of the provinces of Argentina. Located in the northwest of the country, the capital is San Miguel de Tucumán, often shortened to Tucumán. Neighboring provinces are, clockwise from the north: Salta, Santiago del Estero and...
. Was then named as military comptroller
Comptroller
A comptroller is a management level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization.In British government, the Comptroller General or Comptroller and Auditor General is in most countries the external auditor of the budget execution of the...
to the Army of the North
Army of the North
The Army of the North , contemporaneously called Army of Peru, was one of the armies deployed by the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata in the Spanish American wars of independence. Its objective was freeing the Argentine Northwest and the Upper Peru from the royalist troops of the Spanish...
during the short period where its commander in choief was San Martín. Álvarez Jonte then returned to Buenos Aires, where he served as general war comptroller, and worked in this post during the brief government of Alvear.
After the mutiny that led to the Alvear's fall from government, he was exiled to London. There he joined the local Lautaro Lodge and dedicated himself to the formation of a navy squadron for Chile, recently liberated from Spain by San Martín, supporting the latter's plans to attack the Viceroyalty of Peru
Viceroyalty of Peru
Created in 1542, the Viceroyalty of Peru was a Spanish colonial administrative district that originally contained most of Spanish-ruled South America, governed from the capital of Lima...
by sea.
He arrived in Chile with Admiral Thomas Cochrane
Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald
Admiral Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, 1st Marquess of Maranhão, GCB, ODM , styled Lord Cochrane between 1778 and 1831, was a senior British naval flag officer and radical politician....
in November 1818, with the navy's ships intended to move the Army of the Andes
Army of the Andes
The Army of the Andes was a military force created by the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata and mustered by general José de San Martín in his campaign to free Chile from the Spanish Empire...
to Peru. Even though he fell ill, he was named army comptroller and secretary to San Martín. He accompanied Cochrane in the first naval campaign to the port of El Callao.
In August 1820 he embarked with San Martín towards Peru again. A short time after arriving, he fell gravelly il and died in October 1820 in the port of Pisco.
An avenue in Buenos Aires's Monte Castro
Monte Castro
Monte Castro is a western barrio in Buenos Aires, Argentina, belonging to the 10th comuna . Its borders are: Alvarez Jonte Ave., Lope de Vega Ave., Juan Agustín García St., Joaquín V. González St., Baigorria St. ,and Irigoyen St....
neighborhood, is named after him.