He was the prototype of the caudillo dictators of South America and ruled supreme in the Argentine Confederation from 1829 to 1852.
Background
Juan Manuel de Rosas was born on March 30, 1793 in Buenos Aires. His father León Ortiz de Rosas was a military officer; he also owned large tract of land. His mother Agustina López de Osornio was a strong willed woman from a wealthy family.
Juan, who was the eldest of the couple’s twelve children, was greatly influenced by his mother.
Education
In the beginning, he was educated at home. At the age of eight, he was enrolled at a private school. However, he was not a very studious boy; but he did take interest in French absolutism.
Career
In 1820 Col. Manuel Dorrego, governor of Buenos Aires, appointed Rosas head of the provincial militia. After Dorrego was overthrown in 1828, Rosas opposed the new governor, Juan Lavalle. Rosas reconvened the former legislature, which elected him governor on Dec. 5, 1829. As head of the Federalist Party, Rosas was opposed by Lavalle’s unitarios (centralists). Although it appeared that he could remain in office after his three-year term, he decided to leave his post to his legal successor but returned to the governorship once again in 1835. He agreed to return only under the condition that he receive dictatorial powers.
Rosas’s 17-year dictatorship, although professing to be federalist, was in fact centralist and noted for its law and order through tyranny. His spies and the Mazorca, a ruthless secret police force, intimidated all opposition, so that by 1840 few dared to oppose him. He also ordered the display of his portrait in public places and churches as a sign of his supreme command. Finally a coalition of Brazilians, Uruguayans, and native Argentinians, under the leadership of Justo José de Urquiza, overthrew Rosas at the Battle of Caseros (February 3, 1852). Rosas was forced to flee to England, where he spent the last years of his life as a farmer. First buried in Southampton, his body was repatriated in 1989 and now rests in Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires.
Achievements
Politics
He believed that Argentina, with its vast percentage of illiterates, was not yet ready for democracy and for the good of country elections had to be manipulated.
Membership
He was a member of Unitarian Party, Federalist Party.
Connections
Rosas married Encarnación Ezcurra on March 16, 1813. She played an important part in shaping Rosas’ career and was probably her husband’s most trusted lieutenant. The couple had a son named Juan Bautista and a daughter named Manuela. Both the children followed their father into exile.