Juan María Gutiérrez

Other names/titles:
Gender: M
Ethnic origin: White

Biographical details

Born in 1809, he was a member of the “Generation of 37”, who were united in their opposition to Rosas. An opposition that, according to Katra was linked to racial superiority typical of their class at that time: Rosas’s popularity among the mestizos, pardos and blacks was seen as distasteful, the barbarian element that kept him in power. This was not a major cause, but had an impact on their attitude towards Rosas. (Katra, 30.)

In 1837 he, together with Sastre and Alberdi, founded the Salón del ’37, a Buenos Aires based salón literario. This was also known as Marcos Sastre’s Salón Literario. It was composed of a group of young intellectuals who were dissatisfied with Rosas’s infiltration/ control of the University. They met in Sastre's library to design a project of national conscience and liberal reforms to bring about Rosas’s downfall. It had about 50 members, among them Vicente López, and Esteban Echeverría. They also devised the cultural programme implemented by Sarmiento. (Denegri, 120.) It lasted only for a few months due to Sastre’s approval of Rosas for having brought order and peace to Argentina. (Katra, 48.)

He was a member of the Asociación de Mayo. He was imprisoned for three months by Rosas and then sent into exile in Montevideo, Chile and Peru. He published articles in newspapers in all these countries. (Coester, 123-124)

He died in 1878.