Jump to content

Juan Antonio Lavalleja

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Lavalleja and the second or maternal family name is de la Torre.
Juan Antonio Lavalleja
Juan Antonio Lavalleja
President of Uruguay
In office
1853–1853
Preceded byVenancio Flores
Succeeded byFructuoso Rivera
Personal details
Born(1784-06-24)24 June 1784
Minas, Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata (now Uruguay)
Died22 October 1853(1853-10-22) (aged 69)

Juan Antonio Lavalleja y de la Torre (June 24, 1784 – October 22, 1853)[1] was an Uruguayan revolutionary, military general, and political figure.[2] He was born in Minas, in a region now named after him as the Lavalleja Department of Uruguay.

Pre-Independence role

[edit]

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

Before leading the Thirty-Three, he had been captured by the Portuguese in 1818 and returned to Uruguay in 1821.[1] Lavalleja first met Fructuoso Rivera, another leading Uruguayan politician of his era and a future rival, in 1825 during an event that would become known as the Abrazo del Monzón (Embrace of the Monsoon).[3]

Post-Independence career

[edit]

After Uruguay's declaration of independence in 1825, Lavalleja was brigadier general and commander-in-chief of its national army between 1825 and 1828.[1] He lead his forces to victory at the Battle of Sarandí and commanded the forces of the Banda Oriental among allied forces of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata to victory in the Battle of Ituzaingó,[1] creating conditions for Uruguayan independence to be recognized in the Treaty of Montevideo in 1828.

In 1830, under the Constitution of Uruguay of 1830, Lavalleja sought national presidency as a rival to Fructuoso Rivera, but he lost. In protest of his loss, Lavalleja contributed to what is now known as the Uruguayan Civil War until it ended in 1851. He was then part of a triumvirate chosen in 1852 to govern Uruguay, but he died shortly after his accession to power,[4] on October 22, 1853 in Montevideo.[1]

Historical legacy

[edit]

Lavalleja is remembered as a rebel who led the fight against the Empire of Brazil. 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

[edit]

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.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e "Natalicio de Juan Antonio Lavalleja". Ejército Nacional del Uruguay (in Spanish). June 24, 2024. Retrieved January 11, 2025.
  2. ^ Machado, Roberto Pinheiro (2018-06-11). Brazilian History: Culture, Society, Politics 1500-2010. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 62. ISBN 978-1-5275-1209-2.
  3. ^ "Recordaron el Abrazo del Monzón". LARED21 (in Spanish). 2010-05-03. Retrieved 2020-10-26.
  4. ^ 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.
[edit]
Political offices
Preceded by President of Uruguay
1853 		Succeeded by


Flag of UruguaySoldier icon

This biographical article related to the military of Uruguay is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Flag of UruguayPolitician icon

This article about a Uruguayan politician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Juan_Antonio_Lavalleja&oldid=1268802701"