Fourth Centenary of the Foundation of Buenos Aires

Fourth Centenary of the Foundation of Buenos Aires
Name	Fourth Centenary of the Foundation of Buenos Aires
Native name	Cuarto Centenario de la Fundación de Buenos Aires
Date	1936
Location	Buenos Aires, Argentina
Cause	400th anniversary of the 1536 and 1580 foundations
Participants	Hipólito Yrigoyen, Agustín Pedro Justo, Roberto Marcelino Ortiz, Marcelo T. de Alvear, Jorge Newbery, Eva Perón

Fourth Centenary of the Foundation of Buenos Aires was a large-scale commemorative program held in Buenos Aires in 1936 marking four centuries since the city's early colonial establishments attributed to Pedro de Mendoza (1536) and Juan de Garay (1580). The event combined municipal planning, national politics, cultural exhibitions, and public monuments, engaging institutions such as the Museo Histórico Nacional, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Municipalidad de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, and international participants including delegations from Spain, Italy, United Kingdom, France, and United States. The celebrations intersected with national debates involving figures from the Infamous Decade and developments in Argentine art, architecture, urbanism, and heritage preservation.

Background

Buenos Aires traced contested origins to expeditions led by Pedro de Mendoza and later colonization by Juan de Garay, events enshrined in colonial chronicles like those of Ulrich Schmidl and documents held at the Archivo General de la Nación (Argentina). The early 20th century in Argentina saw a surge of civic commemorations including the Centenary of the May Revolution (1910) and municipal projects such as the expansion of Puerto Madero and the creation of Parque Tres de Febrero, while intellectual circles in Buenos Aires—including contributors to La Nación, Caras y Caretas, Boletín del Instituto de Arte Americano e Investigaciones Estéticas—debated identity and heritage. International precedents like the Centennial Exposition (1876) and the Paris Exposition Universelle (1889) influenced Argentine planners who consulted with architects from Antonio Vilar, Pio Pizurno, and urbanists associated with the Plan de Reforma de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires.

Planning and Organization

The centenary committee involved officials from the Municipalidad de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, the Gobierno de la Nación Argentina, and cultural institutions including the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Teatro Colón, and the Biblioteca Nacional Mariano Moreno. Key organizers included municipal leaders, members of the Academia Nacional de la Historia, directors from the Universidad de Buenos Aires Faculty of Architecture, and entrepreneurs tied to Grupo de Oficiales Unidos networks. Planning drew on consultants from Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires circles and European curators linked to the École des Beaux-Arts, collaborating with engineers experienced in Ferrocarril General Manuel Belgrano and Ferrocarril del Sud infrastructure works. Funding mixed municipal appropriations, private patrons such as families like Mitre, Pueyrredón, Pellegrini, and sponsorship from firms like Siemens, General Electric, and shipping lines including Compañía Sud Americana de Vapores.

Centenary Celebrations and Events

The program included parades along the Avenida de Mayo and Avenida 9 de Julio, military salutes involving units tied to the Regimiento de Patricios and cavalry detachments, wreath-laying at the Catedral Metropolitana de Buenos Aires, and public speeches by national politicians from the Infamous Decade era such as leaders aligned with Concordancia factions. Cultural highlights featured operatic performances at the Teatro Colón with guest artists associated with the Vienna State Opera and touring companies from Italy, exhibitions at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes curated by figures from the Asociación Amigos del Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, film screenings arranged with distributors connected to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Paramount Pictures, and scholarly conferences convened by the Academia Nacional de la Historia bringing together historians focusing on Virreinato del Río de la Plata, Hernando de Lerma, and colonial legal documents like the Cédula Real.

Monuments, Exhibitions, and Cultural Programs

Monumental works unveiled or restored included plaques and statues honoring Juan de Garay, Pedro de Mendoza, and local heroes referenced by the Museo Histórico Nacional, with sculptors from circles linked to Luis Perlotti, Rogelio Yrurtia, and European ateliers. Exhibitions showcased indigenous artifacts curated by ethnographers connected to the Museo Etnográfico Juan B. Ambrosetti, maritime displays referencing Puerto de Buenos Aires histories, and architectural retrospectives featuring reconstructions informed by archives from the Archivo General de la Nación (Argentina) and plans by architects schooled at the Universidad de Buenos Aires. Cultural programming spanned folk music concerts spotlighting artists associated with Atahualpa Yupanqui-era traditions, dance events invoking links to Tango ensembles performed by orchestras tracing lineage to Carlos Gardel collaborators, and educational initiatives for students from Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires and technical schools tied to the Ministerio de Educación.

Political and Social Impact

The centenary unfolded amid the Infamous Decade political alignments and debates over national identity championed by intellectuals from publications such as Caras y Caretas and Martín Fierro (magazine), affecting perceptions of immigration policies involving communities from Italy, Spain, Germany, France, and Britain. Public ceremonies provided platforms for factions within the Unión Cívica Radical and conservative coalitions like Concordancia (Argentina), intersecting with labor organizations in Buenos Aires precincts where unions affiliated with the Confederación General del Trabajo and anarcho-syndicalist groups held parallel commemorations. Urban projects tied to the centenary accelerated works on avenues and public spaces influencing later administrations including those of Juan Domingo Perón and cultural figures such as Victoria Ocampo who later commented on civic memory.

Legacy and Commemoration

The 1936 commemorations left a tangible urban imprint through preserved monuments, archived exhibition catalogs in repositories like the Biblioteca Nacional Mariano Moreno, and altered municipal practices in heritage management later institutionalized by agencies akin to the Dirección General de Museos and preservationists connected to the Instituto Nacional de Antropología y Pensamiento Latinoamericano. The centenary catalyzed scholarship in Historia de Argentina and fostered networks among historians, curators, and architects who contributed to subsequent exhibits during events such as later municipal anniversaries and the cultural policies of administrations including Perónism and postwar intellectual movements associated with Grupo de Boedo and Florida (literary group). Commemorative plaques and restored sites remain referenced in contemporary guidebooks to Buenos Aires and in collections held by institutions like the Museo Histórico Nacional and the Museo de la Ciudad.

Category:History of Buenos Aires Category:1936 in Argentina Category:Cultural festivals in Argentina