Juan Antonio Lavalleja

19th-century Uruguayan revolutionary and political figure

Juan Antonio Lavalleja
Juan Antonio Lavalleja

President of Uruguay
In office 1853–1853
Preceded by	Venancio Flores
Succeeded by	Fructuoso Rivera

Personal details
Born	(1784-06-24)24 June 1784 Minas, Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata (now Uruguay)
Died	22 October 1853(1853-10-22) (aged 69)

Juan Antonio Lavalleja y de la Torre (June 24, 1784 – October 22, 1853) was a Uruguayan revolutionary and political figure.^[1] He was born in Minas, nowadays being located in the Lavalleja Department, which was named after him.

Pre-Independence role

He led the group called "Thirty-Three Orientals" during Uruguay's Declaration of Independence from Brazil in 1825. His leadership of this group has taken on somewhat mythic proportions in popular Uruguayan historiography.

Post-Independence career

After Uruguay's independence in 1825, Lavalleja sought the presidency as a rival to Fructuoso Rivera in 1830, who won. In protest to his loss, Lavalleja staged revolts. He was part of a triumvirate chosen in 1852 to govern Uruguay, but died shortly after his accession to power.^[2]

Historical legacy

Lavalleja is remembered as a rebel who led the fight against Brazil. But as one of the major figures in early, post-independence Uruguayan history he is identified as a skilled but reactionary warrior who contributed to the culture of intermittent civil war which dogged Uruguay for much of the 19th century.

Family

Lavalleja married Ana Monterroso in 1817; she was sister of José Benito Monterroso.

Setembrino Pereda, La leyenda del arroyo Monzón, Lavalleja y Rivera. Montevideo: 1935.

References

^ Machado, Roberto Pinheiro (2018-06-11). Brazilian History: Culture, Society, Politics 1500-2010. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 62. ISBN 978-1-5275-1209-2.
^ Borucki, Alex (2015-11-01). From Shipmates to Soldiers: Emerging Black Identities in the Río de la Plata. UNM Press. p. 145. ISBN 978-0-8263-5179-1.

External links

Biografía de Lavalleja - Biography
Amérique Latine, Histoire & Mémoire - 15 | 2008 : Etat et Nation I (19e siècle) - Article about his
Genealogy and Ancestry of Lavalleja
Una flor blanca en el cardal - PerSe - A White Flower in a catholic religious. (The Book do mention to he)
Political Office-Holders in Uruguay: Education and Culture Ministers of Uruguay, Foreign Ministers of Uruguay, Interior Ministers of Uruguay