Nicholas Rodriguez Pena
Nicolás Rodríguez Peña (Buenos Aires, April 30, 1775 - Santiago de Chile, December 3, 1853) was an Argentine merchant and politician known mainly for his actions during the May Revolution and for having integrated the Second Triumvirate.
Biography
Nicolás Rodríguez Peña was born in Buenos Aires, in what was then the Viceroyalty of Peru, on April 30, 1775. He dedicated himself to trade, which allowed him to gather a considerable fortune. Among his several successful companies, there is the soap shop that he had in partnership with Hipólito Vieytes, which became famous as a center of conspiracies against the Spanish monarchy. In 1805 he was a member of the "Independence Lodge", with Juan José Castelli, Manuel Belgrano and others; this group and other similar ones used to meet in his country house, located on the site of the square that today bears his name. in Buenos Aires.
He participated as a member of the militias against the two English invasions of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata during 1806 and 1807.
After joining the conspiratorial group that supported Carlotism, he promoted and financed the political actions prior to the May Revolution. He had an outstanding performance at the open meeting on May 22.
He collaborated in the formation of the First National Board of Government. He was Castelli's secretary, although he did not share all of his ideas, accompanying him in the expedition of the Buenos Aires troops in order to quell the Counterrevolution in Córdoba, where he authorized the execution of former viceroy Santiago de Liniers and the other defeated counterrevolutionaries. He continued with the Army of the North in the First Helping Expedition to Upper Peru, after acting in the Battle of Suipacha, he entered the upper provinces and for a short time he was governor of La Paz.
Rodríguez Peña returned to Buenos Aires in February 1811 and took the place of Mariano Moreno in the Primera Junta. But he was expelled by the revolution of April 1811 known as the "Movement or Revolution of the Orilleros" through which the moderate group led by Cornelio Saavedra ensured control of the Junta Grande and eliminated the radical minority affiliated with Moreno.. The revolution confined it to San Juan. He returned at the end of that year, devoting himself to business; he joined the Lautaro Lodge, recently installed in the capital and directed by Carlos María de Alvear and José de San Martín. Following the revolution of October 8, 1812, which overthrew the First Triumvirate, he was elected a member of the Second Triumvirate. This was a government increasingly conditioned by the Assembly of the Year XIII, that is, of the Lautaro Lodge, which controlled it.
When the Second Triumvirate was dissolved, after the defeats of Manuel Belgrano in Vilcapugio and Ayohúma, which put an end to the Second Auxiliary Expedition to Upper Peru, the Lautaro Lodge decided to concentrate power in a one-man executive creating the position of Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata. Gervasio Antonio de Posadas, elected Supreme Director, appointed Rodríguez Peña to preside over the Council of State. He also assigned him the rank of army colonel.
In 1814 he was named the first delegate governor of the Eastern Province, a position he held for a short time.
After the fall of the Supreme Director, Carlos María de Alvear, he was put on trial and sentenced to exile, but shortly after he was authorized to reside in San Juan.
In 1816 he went back to Buenos Aires, but the new Supreme Director, Juan Martín de Pueyrredón, forced him to retire again to San Juan. There he helped General José de San Martín in the organization of the Army of the Andes.
After the Battle of Chacabuco Rodríguez Peña went into exile in Santiago de Chile, where he remained until the day of his death, which occurred in December 1853.
His mortal remains rest in the Recoleta Cemetery in the City of Buenos Aires.
He was married to Casilda Igarzabal, with whom he had four children: Jacinto, Demetrio, Nicolás and Catalina.
Audible version
Recording of this article in the version of 22:36, 22 Apr 2010
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