AfterLife

Only a few examples of poetry exist in Recoleta Cemetery. Mostly confined to plaques like that of Angélica Blanco Granada & Antonio Zwingen, this engraving surprises because it has been built into the wall of the family vault. Very unique.

A closer look & translation, which unfortunately does not rhyme in English as it does in Spanish:

Aquí Yacen Los Restos De La Finada Dª Francisca Viergi De Finocchio
Falleció el 20 de junio de 1858, de 56 años de edad
Q.G.P.E (que goce de paz eterna)

Aquí bajo esta helada losa
regada con mi llanto cada día
alberganse los restos de una esposa
que mi paz y mi calma constituía

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Here Lie The Remains Of The Late Francisca Viergi De Finocchio
Who passed away on June 20, 1858 at the age of 56
May she enjoy eternal peace

Here, underneath this cold slab
each day showered with my tears,
are entombed the remains of a wife
who granted me such peace & calm

Written by Thomas Woodbine Hinchliff (1825-1882)—an English mountaineer, writer, founder & president of the Alpine Club—the following text was published in the book “South American sketches: or, A visit to Rio Janeiro, the Organ Mountains, La Plata, and the Paranà” [sic] in 1863. The text is in public domain & the section which refers to Recoleta Cemetery is reproduced below.

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But one of the most curious and interesting places to be seen in Buenos Ayres is the Recoleta, or burying-place of the Catholics, whether natives or foreigners. It is a very large piece of ground in the northern outskirts, and is completely surrounded by a high wall pierced with loopholes, which would enable a small body of soldiers within to hold the road against an enemy. It is entered by very handsome iron gates, close to which is a chapel for the performance of the burial service. The poorer people are buried in the remoter parts of the ground, in the simple ordinary graves of Europe; but the central part is divided by numbers of paths into narrow streets of vaults and family mausoleums. The latter are for the most part built of white marble, and look like small temples, generally covered with a dome; an iron-grated door permits a view of all the coffins of the family, arranged on shelves or ledges round three sides of the interior, and decorated with immortelles and artificial flowers. Many of the principal inhabitants have spent very large sums of money upon these structures, and the general effect is remarkably good. Seen from the surrounding neighbourhood, the large collection of white cupolas and turrets, rising high above the wall, would make a visitor believe that he saw an Eastern city in the distance.

I often wandered about this Recoleta, studying the epitaphs in many languages; and one day, close to where an English Catholic had buried his wife, and graced her tombstone with the familiar ‘Affliction sore long time she bore, &c.,’ I found on a tall obelisk the most concise and terrible inscription I am acquainted with. It was this:

DON FRANCISCO ALVAREZ,
ASESINADO POR SUS AMIGOS,
1828.

‘Assassinated by his friends!’ Struck by this extraordinary epitaph I made enquiries about the subject of it, and found that a party of young men from good families of the place were in the habit of gambling together, till Alvarez won heavily form all the others. They determined to pay their debts by getting rid of their creditor, and enticing him to a lonely place the deliberately murdered him; they put his dead body in a coach that was ready, and threw it down a well in the neighbourhood. They had laid their plans so that detection seemed impossible; but by an extraordinary chance there was a witness to the crime, who denounced them. Great efforts were made by family influence to save them, but in vain; they were executed, and the brother of the murdered man erected the obelisk to his memory. In another part of the Recoleta was a dreadful hole, into which the victims of the tyranny of Rosas used to be precipitated wholesale; but those times are happily over, and no trace of them remains except in the memory of the Buenos Ayreans.

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This text is valuable in so many ways. It gives us a first-hand account of burial practices & tomb placement of the time. Hinchliff also discusses the general appearance of Recoleta Cemetery as well as describes tombs which no longer exist. Finally, he makes the cemetery a tourist destination & finds an interesting story to tell. Apparently some things never change!

Entrance gate & the Iglesia de Pilar, circa 1867, shortly after Hinchliff’s visit. Photo by Benito Panunzi from the Carlos Sánchez Idiart Collection.

Grandson of the author of the Argentina national anthem, the tomb of Lucio Vicente López is one of few in Recoleta Cemetery paid for by public donations. Regular readers know that the majority of plots belong to families, so something extraordinary must have happened for López to be buried alone here. It’s quite a story.

Already a lawyer & recognized journalist, López began publishing books in the 1880′s. La Gran Aldea (1884) first appeared as a regular magazine section & presented porteños with a clever look at themselves & some of their more absurd customs. A personal favorite is the section where a politician derides the main character for wanting to study. The politicians prides himself on getting ahead without ever opening a book. Hilarious. Project Gutenberg has a complete copy available online for free. Of course there was commentary about Recoleta Cemetery (translation mine):

Mientras depositaban el cajón en la bóveda de la familia, yo me perdí en las calles del cementerio.

¡Cuánta vana pompa!

Cómo podía medirse allí, junto con los mamarrachos de la marmolería criolla, la imbecilidad y la soberbia humanas. Allí la tumba pomposa de un estanciero… muchas leguas de campo, muchas vacas; los cueros y las lanas han levantado ese mausoleo que no es ni el de Moreno, ni el de García, ni el de los guerreros, ni el de los grandes hombres de letras.

Allí la regia sepultura de un avaro, más allá la de un imbécil… la pompa siguiéndolos en la muerte….

While the casket was placed in the family vault, I got lost among the walkways of the cemetery.

So much pompous vanity!

How could one be measured there, a local parade of imbeciles & morons alongside the best of humanity. There, the pompous tomb of a ranch owner… many leagues of countryside, lots of cows; leather & wool constructed that mausoleum which does not belong to Moreno, García, the soldiers, or the great academics.

Here the regal tomb of a miser, there another of an idiot… pomp following them in death…

As most members of the upper class, López soon became involved in politics. Shortly after the 1890 Revolution & under the government of Luis Saénz Peña, López was named Interventor Federal for the Province of Buenos Aires… basically a government inspector or auditor.

Although in the post for less than a year, López uncovered a case of corruption that he would pay dearly for. An unpaid government loan had been issued for a large lot of land… land that was later resold without payment of the original loan & whose resale also violated the loan’s terms. The person in question was Coronel Sarmiento (no relation to Domingo F.), personal secretary to General Luis María Campos then serving as Minister of War. López opened a case against Sarmiento, for which he was detained three months in a provincial prison, but in the end no charges of illicit gain were filed.

During these events, López & Sarmiento never saw each other. But afterwards, the only way to clear the air between them was a duel. In the 1890′s, duels were still an occasional event in Argentina but for the most part, they involved firing shots into the air as a way to restore both parties’ honor. Not so for López & Sarmiento. This was to be a duel to the death.

The godparents of both López & Sarmiento—bound to preside over the duel as tradition dictated—tried to dissuade López & Sarmiento. No need to spill blood. But in the end it went ahead as planned. Shots were fired at 12 paces & both missed. Guns were reloaded. In the second round, Sarmiento hit López in the abdomen, causing damage to his gallbladder & liver. López did not survive the night.

Most thought that the death of López was unnecessary & deprived Argentina one of its most respected authors at the age of 44. Old traditions definitely die hard.

Lucio Victorio Mansilla fue, como Ascasubi, un hombre de vida novelesca. Mansilla encarnó la personalidad romántica: militar, escritor, viajero, bon vivant.

Mansilla nació en Buenos Aires en 1831. Fue hijo del coronel Lucio Mansilla y de Agustina Rozas, hermana de Juan Manuel de Rosas, y a quien llamaban “la estrella de la Federación”. Era un adolescente cuando sus padres lo enviaron de viaje a Oriente. Dicen que quisieron apartarlo de un amor que “no le era conveniente”. El joven Lucio recorrió la India, Egipto y Turquía, además de Francia, Italia e Inglaterra. Estos viajes después serían material para gran parte de su producción futura.

Caído Rosas, la familia se muda a Francia por un año. A la vuelta, Lucio Victorio se casó con su prima, Catalina Ortiz de Rozas y Almada. En 1856 retó a duelo a José Mármol, ya que Mansilla consideró que el escritor había ofendido a su padre en la novela “Amália”. Finalmente, el futuro autor fue desterrado por tres años y después fue enviado a la guerra contra el Paraguay:

En 1868 apoyó la candidatura presidencial de Sarmiento, quien una vez en el poder designó a Mansilla como comandante de fronteras en Río IV, Córdoba. Desde allí emprendería en 1870 un viaje al sur para afianzar el tratado de paz con los ranqueles. Mansilla pasó seis meses entre los indios, y fue contando sus vivencias en cartas que se publicaban en el diario “La Tribuna”. Esas cartas, escritas en un estilo coloquial y barroco, y que incluían anécdotas, charlas y relatos de fogón, fueron reunidas en el volumen “Una excursión a los indios ranqueles”, una de las obras más extraordinarias de la literatura argentina.

Mansilla (en el centro, de capa) en lo que ahora es la Plaza Roca, en Río IV, en 1868, dos años antes de partir hacia territorio ranquel:

Desde 1876 hasta su muerte, acaecida en 1913 en París, Mansilla ocupó gran número de cargos políticos y publicó varios libros de memorias y relatos. Pero lo más importante de su vida, hacer y contar la “Excursión”, ya había sucedido. Mansilla descansa en la bóveda familiar con su madre Agustina Rozas y su padre Lucio, y ésta bóveda fue declarada un Monumento Histórico National en 1946:

La foto de Mansilla en Río IV es propiedad del Museo Histórico Regional de esa localidad.

La fabulosa vida del poeta gauchesco Hilario Ascasubi parece salida de la pluma de un novelista romántico del siglo XIX.

Cuenta la historia, o la leyenda, que Ascasubi nació en Córdoba en 1807, a bordo de una carreta viajera. A los cinco años, cabalgó a grupas del caballo del entonces coronel José de San Martín. Y cuando cumplió los 14, Hilario se embarcó de puro capricho en “La Rosa Argentina”, donde paseó por medio mundo durante más de dos años.

En 1825 se enroló en las fuerzas del general José María Paz, para luchar contra los españoles. Allí Ascasubi comenzó a componer versos para entretener a sus compañeros. Al poco tiempo conoció en Tucumán a Facundo Quiroga.

Cuando Rosas llegó al poder, Ascasubí escribió sátiras contra el “Restaurador” que le valieron dos años de cárcel. Al quedar libre se exilió en Montevideo durante dos décadas, en los que comenzó su andadura literaria que lo haría famoso. Volvió en 1852 a Buenos Aires ya hecho una figura notoria. Al año siguiente comenzó a editar el periódico satírico “Aniceto el Gallo”, y en 1855 dilapidó casi toda su fortuna en el proyecto del primer Teatro Colón.

Pasaron los años, y en 1872 publicó en París sus Obras Completas, donde apareció por primera vez “Santos Vega”, la historia del payador que desafió al mismo Diablo, y que representa una cumbre de la literatura hispanoamericana. En el cementerio de la Recoleta, sus obras más conocidas figuran al lado izquierdo de la tumba, mientras las batallas en que participó están nombradas a la derecha:

Ascasubi, amigo de Sarmiento, de Florencio Varela, de Valentín Alsina, falleció en Buenos Aires en 1875. Su tumba fue declarada Monumento Histórico Nacional en 1946. El trunco cortado es único en el cementerio… un símbol de la muerte de algo que una vez vivía, algo que nunca se puede recuperar:

Close to the entrance gate, the Art Nouveau effigy of Luz María García Velloso draws a lot of attention. Beautiful & in a highly visible location, it only seems natural that an urban legend would develop around her death.

Supposedly a victim of leukemia at the age of 15, Luz María’s mom spent several  night vigils at the cemetery… actually sleeping inside the vault. Much later, men walking near Recoleta Cemetery reported an encounter with a young woman dressed completely in white. The most common version claims this woman would accompany them to a bar, get a chill then ask to borrow her date’s jacket. Next she would accidentally stain it with whatever they were drinking & take the jacket with her when they said goodnight.

The following day the man somehow contacts her mother to get the jacket back, & she explains that the young woman is already dead! In desperation, he goes to the cemetery & finds his jacket draped over the effigy. While none of the above has been confirmed, it makes for an interesting story… probably one of the most common urban legends in the world.

Fortunately some factual information about the rest of the family—also buried here—is available. Luz María’s father, Enrique García Velloso, was of Basque descent & heavily involved in the arts at the beginning of the 20th century in Buenos Aires. He directed the first movie version of Amália by José Marmol in 1914. Two years later he wrote Mamá Culepina about the barracks following the troops of Lucio V. Mansilla.

All this artistic activity led Enrique to be named the first President of the Casa del Teatro—an actors association/retirement organization based on Avenida Santa Fe. Still possessing a popular theater,  the fantastic Art Deco building was designed by Alejandro Virasoro… the same architect who built the Defferrari family vault.

Enrique’s cultural connections expressed their sorrow for the death of Luz María with poetic plaques on the left side of the family vault:

Unfortunately the elaborate interior painting is missing these days, but the ceiling’s stained glass remains intact:

Second to last photo courtesy of the Archivo General de la Nación. Like Art Nouveau? Get to know the architects of the era, their individual styles & what makes Art Nouveau in Buenos Aires so unique with a 33-page guide from Endless Mile. This tomb is listed in the guide.

Last photo can be viewed larger in Flickr.