Adolfo Carranza (August 7, 1857 – August 15, 1914) was an Argentine lawyer, public official, historian, and writer who established the National Historical Museum.

Life and times

Adolfo Pedro Carranza was born in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

to María Eugenia del Mármol and Adolfo Carranza. He enrolled at the

University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires (, UBA) is a public university, public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is the second-oldest university in the country, and the largest university of the country by enrollment. Established in 1821 ...

Law School, earning a ''

juris doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

'', and in 1880 married Carmen García Lara, with whom he had one daughter.Genealogía Argentina: Adolfo Pedro Carranza Mármol
/ref> Carranza entered public service, and was appointed Economic Affairs

Attaché In diplomacy, an attaché () is a person who is assigned ("to be attached") to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Although a loanword from French, in English the word is not modified ac ...

to the Argentine Embassy in

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

. He later served as Section Chief for the

Interior Ministry An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the ...

. Carranza, during the late 1880s, developed a correspondence with numerous relatives of key figures and veterans of the

Argentine War of Independence The Argentine War of Independence () was a secessionist civil war (until 1816) fought from 1810 to 1818 by Argentine patriotic forces under Manuel Belgrano, Juan José Castelli, Martín Miguel de Güemes, Martin Miguel de Guemes and José de ...

. He collected a wide variety of vintage weapons, documents, memorabilia, furniture and other items related to the 1810 — 21 struggle, and was later given purview over similar artifacts already on display at the ''Museo Público''.Planetario Galilei: Biografía de Adolfo Carranza
His initiative resulted in the establishment of ''Museo Histórico de la Capital'' (Historical Museum of the Capital) by Mayor

Francisco Seeber Francisco Seeber (November 15, 1841 – December 13, 1913) was an Argentine military officer, businessman and Mayor of Buenos Aires. Life and times Francisco Seeber was born in Buenos Aires to Sophia Taut and Magnus Seeber, both German Argen ...

on May 24, 1889, and with Carranza as director, the institution opened its doors to the public on February 15, 1891.Museo Histórico Nacional
Carranza initially operated the museum jointly with a commission led by former Presidents

Bartolomé Mitre Bartolomé Mitre (26 June 1821 – 19 January 1906) was an Argentine statesman, soldier and author. He was President of Argentina from 1862 to 1868 and the first president of Argentine Civil Wars#National unification, unified Argentina. Mitre i ...

Julio Roca Alejo Julio Argentino Roca Paz (July 17, 1843 – October 19, 1914) was an Argentine army general and statesman who served as President of Argentina from 1880 to 1886 and from 1898 to 1904. Roca is the most important representative of the ...

, and other members of the

National Academy of History of Argentina The National Academy of History of the Argentine Republic () is a non-profit learned society established to foster the study and dissemination of Argentine history. Overview Founded in 1893 by Ernesto Quesada, José Toribio Medina, and former Pr ...

, which he joined in 1901. He steadily expanded the museum's collections with both outside donations, as well as his own, which included an antiquarian library of over 8,000 volumes and his

numismatic Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals, and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also inclu ...

collection. He published a historical journal, ''La Revista Nacional'', until 1893, and later established the museum periodical, ''Revista del Museo''. Carranza secured the museum's relocation to the former Lezama mansion (in what became Lezama Park) in 1897. A professional historian, he authored numerous works on the fitful

history of Argentina The history of Argentina can be divided into four main parts: the pre-Columbian time or early history (up to the sixteenth century), the colonial period (1536–1809), the period of nation-building (1810–1880), and the history of modern Argenti ...

, including ''Hojas históricas'' (1893), ''Leyendas Nacionales'' (1894), and '' San Martín (y su correspondencia)'', a 1905 anthology of the Liberator's correspondence. He created a compendium of prized documents held by the General Archive of the Nation, and published two further periodicals, ''Ilustración Histórica Argentina'' (1908), and ''La Ilustración Histórica'' (1911). He died suddenly in Buenos Aires in 1914, at age 57. He was interred at

La Recoleta Cemetery La Recoleta Cemetery () is a cemetery located in the Recoleta, Buenos Aires, Recoleta Barrios and Communes of Buenos Aires, neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It contains the graves of notable people, including Eva Perón, President of Ar ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carranza, Adolfo 1857 births 1914 deaths Writers from Buenos Aires Argentine people of Spanish descent University of Buenos Aires alumni Argentine biographers 20th-century Argentine historians Argentine male writers Argentine journalists Argentine male journalists Argentine curators Burials at La Recoleta Cemetery Male biographers Argentine male non-fiction writers 19th-century Argentine historians Argentine expatriates in Paraguay