Francisco Bolognesi

Francisco Bolognesi
Peruvian hero during the War of the Pacific
Born	(1816-11-04)November 4, 1816 Lima, Lima, Peru
Died	June 7, 1880(1880-06-07) (aged 63) Arica, Peru (now Chile)

Francisco Bolognesi Cervantes (1816-1880) was a Peruvian military hero. He is considered national hero in Peru and was declared patron of the Army of Peru by the government of Peru on January 2 of 1951.

Francisco Bolognesi was born in Lima on November 4, 1816. He attended the Seminary of Arequipa until he was 16 and then entered into a career in commerce.

His father, Andrés Bolognesi was of Italian-Peruvian background and was a violin player for the court of the Viceroy. Francisco Bolognesi had a son called Mariano whose son was Federico Bolognesi (2nd Vicepresident of Peru). Federico Bolognesi had a daughter called Ana Maria Bolognesi who had two daughters called Ana Mamie and Selina Raguz Bolognesi.

He was involved with the military in July, 1844, in an action at Carmen Alto, a local district of Arequipa., south region of Perú While offered a position in the military, he elected to remain in civilian life. However, in 1853, he enlisted and was selected as second in command of a cavalry regiment during a period of tension between Peru and Bolivia. While no armed conflict with Bolivia ensued, Bolognesi elected to remain in the military and took part in the revolution against then-President Echenique. After the successful revolution, Bolognesi was a Lieutenant Colonel on the General Staff.

In 1856, Bolognesi commanded the artillery involved in suppressing the revolt of General Manuel Ignacio de Vivanco, centered in the city of Arequipa, and was promoted to Colonel.

After several missions to Europe to help acquire weapons for Peru (especially artillery), Bolognesi returned to Peru in May 1866. He fell afoul of President Don Mariano Ignacio Prado and was imprisoned briefly in 1867. After the fall of Prado, Bolognesi returned to military service, commanding various artillery units of the Peruvian army, retiring in 1871 as Commander-in-Chief of the Artillery.

When the War of the Pacific began in 1879 between Chile and the alliance of Peru and Bolivia, Bolognesi, now 62, rejoined the Peruvian Army and was active in actions against the Chilean forces, including the Battles of Dolores and Tarapacá in November, 1879. In April, 1880, he was placed in command of the Peruvian port of Arica.