- Leandro Alem
Leandro Nicéforo Alem (
11 March 1841 –1 July 1896 ) was an Argentine politician, born inBuenos Aires , a founder and leader of theRadical Civic Union . Alem was the uncle and political teacher ofHipólito Yrigoyen .In 1859, being only 15 years old, he took part in the battles of Cepeda and Pavón, and in 1865 he joined the war against
Paraguay . After this he returned to Buenos Aires to finish his law studies. He had democratic, anti-authoritarian ideas, and in 1868 he joinedAdolfo Alsina 's Autonomist Party, where he showed a skill for incissiverhetorics in public debates.Alem was elected "diputado" (representative) for the provincial legislature of Buenos Aires in 1871, and in 1874 he went on to become a national representative, and then a senator. He opposed the federalization of the city of Buenos Aires required by the Constitution. When it was passed by the legislature, he resigned and became the intellectual leader of a group of discontents that sought to produce changes in Argentine politics (known as the people of the "1880s Generation"). In 1877 he and his friend
Aristóbulo del Valle founded the Republican Party.In 1889, Argentina was within a deep political and economic crisis, worsened by the corruption and abuse of power of President
Miguel Juárez Celman . In this context, Alem organized the Youth Civic Union, from which the Radical Civic Union ("UCR") would emerge (to become a major factor in Argentine political life, only matched later by the Peronist Party). In July 1890 Alem was one of the leaders of the revolution that forced Juárez Celman to resign. When Vice-PresidentCarlos Pellegrini took charge in his stead, Alem renewed his opposition, lending support to uprisings against the national government in the provinces.After a failed uprising in 1893, Alem saw many of his supporters leave him. Feeling disappointed and betrayed, he committed
suicide on1 July 1896 , by shooting himself in his right temple inside a carriage. Today, his remains are buried in the Memorial of the Fallen in the 1890 Revolution, in theLa Recoleta Cemetery of Buenos Aires.Legacy
There are two cities called Leandro N. Alem in Argentina, one in the province of Misiones and another one in the north-west of Buenos Aires (with the same name as the
partido where it belongs). There is also a small town in San Luis with this name.The
Parque Alem , one of two large parks inRosario , Santa Fe, is named after Alem, and has a heroicstatue of him, pushing over an iron rod, representing themotto of the Radical Civic Union, "Se quiebra pero no se dobla" ("It breaks but it does not bend", an expression of commitment to principles).There is a reference to Alem in the lyrics of a tango
milonga called "Milonga del 900" written byHomero Manzi . The song may, in fact, be about Alem.ources
* [http://members.fortunecity.es/matiasbailone/alem.htm Leandro Alem, el fundador] - A romantic biography. Links to poems, speeches, eulogies, etc.
* [http://www.clarin.com/diario/especiales/sarmiento/htm/biogra/alem.htm Biography] at Clarín's website.
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