José Nazario Benavídez | |
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Oil portrait of Nazario Benavidez painted by Franklin Rawson, 1843
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Governor of San Juan Province, Argentina | |
In office 26 February 1836 – 13 August 1841 |
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Preceded by | José Luciano Fernández |
Succeeded by | Mariano Acha |
Governor of San Juan Province, Argentina | |
In office 8 October 1841 – 29 May 1852 |
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Preceded by | José Manuel Quiroga Sarmiento |
Succeeded by | Zacarías Yanzi |
Governor of San Juan Province, Argentina | |
In office 8 August 1852 – 4 January 1855 |
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Preceded by | Zacarías Yanzi |
Succeeded by | Francisco Díaz |
Governor of San Juan Province, Argentina | |
In office 18 March 1857 – April 1857 |
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Preceded by | Francisco Díaz |
Succeeded by | Nicanor Molinas |
Personal details | |
Born |
San Juan, Argentina |
27 July 1802
Died | 23 October 1858 San Juan, Argentina |
(aged 53)
Nationality | Argentine |
José Nazario Benavídez (27 July 1802 – 23 October 1858) was an Argentine soldier who rose to the rank of Brigadier General and played a leading role in the Argentine Civil Wars. He was Governor of San Juan Province, Argentina, for almost twenty years in the mid-nineteenth century. His lengthy political career during a period of great turbulence was due to the great respect in which he was held by enemies as well as friends. After leaving office he was imprisoned and then murdered by his guards.
San Juan de la Frontera was founded on 13 June 1562 by the Spanish conquistador Juan Jufré. It is located in the fertile but earthquake-prone San Juan valley in the mountainous Cuyo region of the west of what is now Argentina, and is headquarters of San Juan Province. The Andes rise in the west of the province, forming the border with Chile. To the south is Mendoza Province and San Luis Province, and to the east and north is La Rioja Province. When Benavídez was born in 1802, San Juan was a sleepy provincial town in the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, part of the Spanish Empire. San Juan was mainly known for its aguardiente, or strong liquor.
In the May Revolution of 1810 the leaders in Buenos Aires, the main city of the viceroyalty, declared independence of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata from the Bonaparte dynasty of Spain. On 19 July 1816, when Benavídez was fourteen, full independence from Spain was declared at the Congress of Tucumán. This was followed by a long series of civil wars in which caudillos, or military strongmen emerged in control of the provinces, fighting for a liberal and centralized Unitarian country or a more conservative and decentralized Federalist organization for the new republic. These struggles continued throughout Benavídez's life, and he was to be an important player.