Blas Garay

Blas Manuel Garay Argaña (Asunción, February 3, 1873-ibid., December 19, 1899) was a Paraguayan writer and journalist.

Biography

He was born in 1873 (Paraguay) His parents were Vicente Garay and Constancia Argaña de Garay. Garay had two brothers: Eugenio Alejandrino and Juan Jorge. All three were writers. Eugenio Alejandrino would later have an outstanding performance in the Chaco War.

After finishing secondary school, Garay completed his university studies in Law and Social Sciences. His first steps in journalism began at the National College.

He graduated as a lawyer when he was only 23 years old. President Juan Bautista Egusquiza entrusted him with a diplomatic mission to Europe, although his true objective was for Garay to investigate in the Seville Archive everything related to titles, identification cards, supplies and maps that would prove Paraguay's possession of the Chaco Boreal. Before making his trip, Garay married María Antonia Valdovinos, and they would have two children: Blas Garay Valdovinos, who was private secretary of President Manuel Gondra, and Juan Manuel Garay (posthumous son), who would reach the rank of colonel and who was Chief of Staff of the Paraguayan Army during the Chaco War, under the command of the then General José Félix Estigarribia.

Garay published four works of historical genre in Spain in 1897: Compendium of the History of Paraguay, Communism of the missions, The Revolution of Independence of Paraguay and Brief Summary of the History of Paraguay. His work as a copyist and researcher allowed him to scrutinize thousands of documents that today form the "Garay Collection" in the National Archive.

On his return from Spain, in 1898, Garay founded the evening newspaper La Prensa.