Carlos Casado del Alisal
Encyclopedia
Spanish Argentine
Spanish settlement in Argentina, that is the arrival of Spanish emigrants in Argentina, took place firstly in the period before Argentina's independence from Spain, and again in large numbers during the late 19th and early 20th centuries...
businessman.
Life and times
Carlos Casado del Alisal was born in VilladaVillada
Villada is a municipality located in the province of Palencia, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 1,200 inhabitants....
, Palencia Province, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. He arrived in Santa Fe Province
Santa Fe Province
The Invincible Province of Santa Fe, in Spanish Provincia Invencible de Santa Fe , is a province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco , Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Santiago del Estero...
, Argentina
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...
in 1857, and in 1864, was named to the Board of Directors of the newly-established Central Argentine Railway
Central Argentine Railway
The Central Argentine Railway was one of the Big Four broad gauge, , British-owned companies that built and operated railway networks in Argentina...
by its chief stockholder, William Wheelwright
William Wheelwright
William Wheelwright was a businessman who played an essential role in the development of steamboat and train transportation in Chile and other parts of South America...
. Serving in the Rosario
Rosario
Rosario is the largest city in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the western shore of the Paraná River and has 1,159,004 residents as of the ....
City Council, he also established the Casado Bank in 1865, and Colonia Candelaria, an agricultural colony
Agricultural colonies in Argentina
Agricultural colonies in Argentina were a demographically and economically important part of the evolution of the country. The Argentine government, faced with large areas of fertile land that were unpopulated or settled by aboriginal tribes , encouraged European immigration, welcoming settling...
, in 1870; the latter was later reestablished as Casilda
Casilda
Casilda is a city in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It is the head town of the Caseros Department, and lies about west of Rosario and 202 km south-southwest of the provincial capital Santa Fe, on National Route 33...
, in honor of his mother. He founded the Provincial Bank of Santa Fe
New Bank of Santa Fe
The New Bank of Santa Fe is a bank in Santa Fe Province, Argentina.Originally named Provincial Bank of Santa Fe, it was established as a mixed state/private bank on 5 June 1874, based on an initiative of governor Servando Bayo, justified in the need to provide credit for the blossoming productive...
in 1874, and purchased the highly-indebted Colonia Caridad in 1878, redeveloping it as San Genaro (in honor of his daughter's patron saint
Patron saint
A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...
, Saint Gennaro).
Casado arranged the first shipment of Argentine wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
in 1878; the 4,500 tons of wheat had been grown in Candelaria, and were shipped on April 12, 1878. He was subsequently named monetary policy
Monetary policy
Monetary policy is the process by which the monetary authority of a country controls the supply of money, often targeting a rate of interest for the purpose of promoting economic growth and stability. The official goals usually include relatively stable prices and low unemployment...
adviser by President Nicolás Avellaneda
Nicolás Avellaneda
Nicolás Remigio Aurelio Avellaneda Silva was an Argentine politician and journalist, and president of Argentina from 1874 to 1880. Avellaneda's main projects while in office were banking and education reform, leading to Argentina's economic growth...
, and helped direct national support toward the export of cereal at a time when leather
Leather
Leather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal rawhide and skin, primarily cattlehide. It can be produced through different manufacturing processes, ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry.-Forms:...
and dried meat
Dried meat
Dried meat is a feature of many cuisines around the world. Examples include:* Bakkwa or rougan a Chinese salty-sweet dried meat product made in the form of flat thin sheets* Biltong, a kind of cured meat that originated in South Africa...
s earned most of the nation's foreign exchange
Foreign exchange reserves
Foreign-exchange reserves in a strict sense are 'only' the foreign currency deposits and bonds held by central banks and monetary authorities. However, the term in popular usage commonly includes foreign exchange and gold, Special Drawing Rights and International Monetary Fund reserve positions...
. President of the Bank of Santa Fe, he also sat on the boards of the Bank of the Province of Buenos Aires
Bank of the Province of Buenos Aires
The Bank of the Province of Buenos Aires is a publicly-owned Argentine bank and the second-largest in the nation, by value of assets and deposits.-History:...
and the Mortgage Bank
Banco Hipotecario
Banco Hipotecario is an important commercial bank in Argentina and the nation's premier mortgage lender.-Overview:The institution was chartered on September 24, 1886, as the Banco Hipotecario Nacional by a bill signed by President Julio Roca...
as the representative for Santa Fe Province stockholders from 1882. Casado founded the Santa Fe Western Railway
Santa Fe Western Railway
The Santa Fe Western Railway was a railway company which became British-owned in 1900 when it was taken over by the Central Argentine Railway...
in 1883, and the rail line would, by 1890, connect much of the agriculturally-rich province to the Port of Rosario
Port of Rosario
The Port of Rosario is an inland port and a major goods-shipping center of Argentina, located in the city of Rosario, province of Santa Fe, on the right-hand shore of the Paraná River, about 550 km upstream from the Atlantic Ocean.-Overview:...
and the Paraná River
Paraná River
The Paraná River is a river in south Central South America, running through Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina for some . It is second in length only to the Amazon River among South American rivers. The name Paraná is an abbreviation of the phrase "para rehe onáva", which comes from the Tupi language...
.
Following the War of the Triple Alliance
War of the Triple Alliance
The Paraguayan War , also known as War of the Triple Alliance , was a military conflict in South America fought from 1864 to 1870 between Paraguay and the Triple Alliance of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay...
, in which Argentina annexed what became Formosa Province
Formosa Province
Formosa Province is in northeastern Argentina, part of the Gran Chaco Region. Its northeast end touches Asunción, Paraguay, and borders the provinces of Chaco and Salta to its south and west, respectively...
from Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
, Casado became of the new province's leading landowners. He died in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
in 1899, at age 66.
Carlos Casado del Alisal was honored with a monument sculpted by Eduardo Barnes
Eduardo Barnes
Eduardo Amancio Barnes was an Argentine sculptor, and one of his country's preeminent creators of sacred art.-Life and work:...
, and unveiled at the Rosario headquarters of the Provincial Bank of Santa Fe in 1970.