Luis Piedrabuena
| Luis Piedrabuena | |
|---|---|
Capitán Luis Piedrabuena
|
|
| Born |
24 August 1833 Carmen de Patagones, Buenos Aires Province |
| Died | 10 August 1883 (aged 49) Buenos Aires |
| Nationality | Argentine |
| Occupation | Sailor |
| Known for | Southern explorations |
| Spouse(s) | Julia Dufour |
| Children | Luis, Ana, María, Celestina, Julia, Elvira |
Luis Piedrabuena (Spanish pronunciation: [lwis pjeðɾaˈβwena]; 24 August 1833 - 10 August 1883) was an Argentine sailor whose actions in southern Argentina consolidated national sovereignty at a time when these lands were virtually uninhabited and were not protected by the state. His biographers consider him one of the most important heroes of Patagonia. Piedrabuena reached the naval rank of Naval Lieutenant Colonel, equivalent to Commander. Today he is commonly called Commander Piedrabuena.
Luis Piedrabuena was born in the port of Carmen de Patagones, Buenos Aires Province, on 24 August 1833. He was born in a large colonial house with large bricks, window grilles and a Spanish-style tile roof. It was located at the foot of the ravine that was crowned by a fort in those days, and today by the parish church. From a very early age he was attracted by the sea.
His childhood relationship with three seamen helped him to follow a life at sea. The first was Captain Lemon, an American whaler who sailed, while very young, between Patagones and Buenos Aires. The second was an old friend of his father, the captain and former privateer James Harris who put Luis up at his home in Buenos Aires, where he enrolled in a primary school and later attend a high school specializing in nautical subjects. Returning to Patagones, five years later, he continued to pilot boats and managed to build his own cutter.
In 1847 another American whaler, John E. Davison, touched at Patagones. He was under Captain W. Smiley, who was leading an expedition in the South Atlantic. Luis's father entrusted him at the age of 15 to this sailor for seafaring instruction. He sailed with the whaler from Patagones on 23 July 1847, heading for the Antarctic. On that voyage he reached the latitude of 68° South, so Piedrabuena can be considered the first Argentine to have entered the Antarctic. The hardship of ocean voyaging in the cold and rough seas prepared him for the large enterprises in which he would participate in the future.
Piedrabuena accompanied Captain W. Smiley's whaling and sealing expedition in 1848, picking up knowledge of sealing, and learning the geography of the straits and how to navigate in them. In 1848, with his own schooner, Piedrabuena touched at the Falkland Islands to load groceries and then continued to Cape Horn, reaching the Antarctic continent whaling grounds, and then returned to his hometown Carmen de Patagones. In 1849 Piedrabuena sailed from the port of Montevideo to Tierra del Fuego as an officer to supply the English missionaries. Offshore from Isla de los Estados (Staten Island) he rescued fourteen shipwrecked sailors. Piedrabuena displayed characteristic solidarity and courage as a seaman in the rescue. In 1850 he was first officer of the schooner "Zerabia", taking sheep and cattle to the Falkland Islands. He reached Antarctica again. He explored the Fuegian channels where he met Tehuelche people, in whom he tried to instill a sense of the Fatherland.
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