Julio Irazusta

Julio Alberto Gustavo Irazusta (23 July 1899 - 5 May 1982) 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 older brother Rodolfo Irazusta throughout his career.

Irazusta was born close to the Rincon del Cura area of Gualeguaychú, Entre Ríos into a family noted for its support of radical politics. He attended the University of Buenos Aires - graduating in 1922 with a law degree - and around this time he was noted as a supporter of the Radical Civic Union. As a student he edited the literary journal Revista Nacional from 1981 to 1920, collaborating with Ernesto Palacio, who at the time held leftist views. Both men came under the influence of the Spanish rightist Ramiro de Maeztu although Irazusta balanced this by also following the writings of Italian liberal Benedetto Croce.

From 1923 to 1927 Irazusta travelled extensively in western Europe. During his time in the United Kingdom he studied Latin and philosophy at Balliol College, Oxford. He also spent time in France where his move towards right-wing politics grew rapidly. Whilst here he met Action Française leader Charles Maurras and became attracted to the brand of integral nationalism that Maurras endorsed. His last major port of call in Europe was Italy where he observed fascism first hand and was attracted by the ideology. On his return to Argentina he resumed his association with Palacio, who was himself on the far right by that point, with the pair collaborating on the Catholic journal Criterio along with Jorge Luis Borges, who was himself in a right-wing phase at the time. He criticised democracy and was especially opposed to freedom of religion, arguing that it was part of an anti-Catholic conspiracy designed to promote Protestantism. Such was his opposition to socialism that he argued a civil war would be preferable to a left-wing government in Argentina.

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