Saldías, Adolfo (1849–1914)

Adolfo Saldías, born September 6, 1849, was an Argentine lawyer, politician, diplomat, journalist, and historian. In 1875 Saldías graduated from the University of Buenos Aires Law School with an honors thesis devoted to civil marriage, sixteen years before it was legalized in Argentina. In 1876 he became a deputy in the national legislature, representing the Partido Autonomista de Buenos Aires, led by Adolfo Alsina. He joined the military and fought in the battles over the federalization of Buenos Aires in 1880. The following year Saldías was appointed to a diplomatic position in London. In England, he had access to Juan Manuel de Rosas's personal archive, which he drew on extensively in writing his three-volume Historia de Rosas, published between 1881 and 1887, which provoked heated debates among liberal historians, such as Bartolomé Mitre. Saldias promoted a more nuanced understanding on the Rosas' regime (1829–1852) by focusing on issues relating to nationalism and economic development.

In 1891 Saldías was one of founders of the political party Unión Cívica Radical (UCR). In the early 1890s he participated in several armed revolts carried out by the new party and was sent to prison in Ushuaia and into exile in Uruguay. Back in Argentina in 1896, Saldías was appointed minister of public works in Buenos Aires Province in 1898, where he was elected vice governor in 1902. Saldías also actively participated in and wrote about Freemasonry.

See alsoAlsina, Adolfo; Argentina: The Twentieth Century; Argentina, Political Parties: Radical Party (UCR); Mitre, Bartolomé; Rosas, Juan Manuel de.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Irazusta, Julio. Adolfo Saldías. Buenos Aires: Ediciones Culturales Argentinas, 1964.

Gorostiaga Saldías, Leonor. Adolfo Saldías: Leal servidor de la República. Buenos Aires: Corregidor, 1999.

Saldías, Adolfo. Páginas políticas. Buenos Aires: La Facultad, 1912.

Saldías, Adolfo. Historia de la Confederación Argentina, 3 vols. Buenos Aires: Hyspamérica, 1987.

                                        Valeria Manzano