Máximo Etchecopar was an Argentine

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...

 diplomat, writer and early adherent of the nationalist

Nationalism

Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...

 strain in the country's political and intellectual elite.

Political career

Born in Tucuman, Etchecopar attended the University of Buenos Aires

University of Buenos Aires

The University of Buenos Aires is the largest university in Argentina and the largest university by enrollment in Latin America. Founded on August 12, 1821 in the city of Buenos Aires, it consists of 13 faculties, 6 hospitals, 10 museums and is linked to 4 high schools: Colegio Nacional de Buenos...

 and graduated with a law degree. He became part of a Catholic cultural movement along with the likes of Leopoldo Marechal

Leopoldo Marechal

Leopoldo Marechal was one of the most important Argentine writers of the twentieth century.- Biographical notes :...

 and Francisco Luis Bernárdez

Francisco Luis Bernárdez

Francisco Luis Bernárdez was an Argentine poet, born in Buenos Aires.He lived in Spain from 1920 until 1924, where he read the modernist poets that influenced in his first books, and he also worked as a journalist in Vigo....

. A disciple and friend of José Ortega y Gasset

José Ortega y Gasset

José Ortega y Gasset was a Spanish liberal philosopher and essayist working during the first half of the 20th century while Spain oscillated between monarchy, republicanism and dictatorship. He was, along with Nietzsche, a proponent of the idea of perspectivism.-Biography:José Ortega y Gasset was...

 he became a close ally of Rodolfo Irazusta

Rodolfo Irazusta

Rodolfo Irazusta was an Argentine writer and politician who was one of the leading lights of the nationalist movement of the 1920s and 1930s. He collaborated closely with his younger brother Julio Irazusta throughout his career....

 and Carlos Ibarguren

Carlos Ibarguren

Carlos Ibarguren Uriburu was an Argentine academic, historian and politician. As a writer he was noted as one of the foremost academics of the history of Argentina as well as a leading expert on constitutional law...

. He wrote for such journals as Sol y Luna and Nueva Politica in defence of oligarchy

Oligarchy

Oligarchy is a form of power structure in which power effectively rests with an elite class distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties, commercial, and/or military legitimacy...

 and in praise of Juan Manuel de Rosas

Juan Manuel de Rosas

Juan Manuel de Rosas , was an argentine militar and politician, who was elected governor of the province of Buenos Aires in 1829 to 1835, and then of the Argentine Confederation from 1835 until 1852...

. His works also appeared in Balcón, the journal of anti-Semitic hardliner Julio Meinvielle

Julio Meinvielle

Father Julio Meinvielle was an Argentine priest and prolific antisemitic writer.-Background:Meinvielle studied for his Doctorate in Philosophy and Theology in Rome and soon afterwards became a prolific writer of religious, historical and economic books within the school of Thomism...

. In 1942 he was a leading delegate at the Congresa de la Recuperación Nacional at 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...

, a failed attempt to unite the various strands of nationalist thought in the country.

Diplomacy

Following the failure of this initiative Etchecopar became a close ally of Mario Amadeo

Mario Amadeo

Mario Amadeo was an Argentine conservative nationalist politician, diplomat and writer who served as a minister in the government of Eduardo Lonardi...

 and under his influence became a supporter of Arturo Frondizi

Arturo Frondizi

Arturo Frondizi Ercoli was the President of Argentina between May 1, 1958, and March 29, 1962, for the Intransigent Radical Civic Union.-Early life:Frondizi was born in Paso de los Libres, Corrientes Province...

, moving away from nationalism. Etchecopar soon came to concentrate more fully on his diplomatic posts, holding a number of leading positions. He served as Consul-General in Cairo

Cairo

Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...

 from 1947 to 1948 before moving on to London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 where he was stationed to 1949. He served as ambassador to the Vatican City

Vatican City

Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...

 from 1950 to 1955 and was awarded both the Order of Pius IX

Order of Pius IX

The Order of Pius IX , also referred as the Pian Order , is a Papal order of knighthood founded on 17 June 1847 by Pope Pius IX.-Classes:The Order comprises five classes:...

 and Magistral Grace of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta for his service. He subsequently acted as Argentina's ambassador to Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

, Peru

Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

, Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

, Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

 and Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

whilst also serving as director of the main training centre for diplomats, the Instituto del Servicio Exterior de la Nacion, from 1966 to 1969.

Writing

Etchecopar was also noted as a writer, with his main books including Breve y varia lección, Unos papeles de Lofredo Paz, Con mi generación, Historia de una afición a leer, Esquema de la Argentina and El fin del Nuevo Mundo. The latter, published in 1984, was particularly well received as a leading study of modern developments in Spanish-speaking America.