Felipe Sapag (February 14, 1917 – March 14, 2010) was an
Argentine
Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...
politician, governor of
Neuquén Province
Neuquén () is a Provinces of Argentina, province of Argentina, located in the west of the country, at the northern end of Patagonia. It borders Mendoza Province to the north, Rio Negro Province to the southeast, and Chile to the west. It also me ...
on five occasions and a leading figure in the
Neuquén People's Movement
The Neuquén People's Movement () is a peronism, Peronist provincial political party in Neuquén Province, Neuquén, Argentina.
The party was founded by, amongst others, Carlos Sobisch, Elías Sapag, Felipe Sapag and his brothers, Peronists who ...
and the locally influential Sapag family.
Life and times
Sapag was born in
Zapala
Zapala is a city and touristic destination in the Patagonian province of Neuquén, Argentina with about 32,000 inhabitants according to the .
The city is located at the geographic center of the province at the confluence of national and provincia ...
to
Lebanese immigrants who had moved to Neuquén in 1913. His elder brother was
Elías Sapag
Elías Canaán Sapag (Arabic language, Arabic: إلياس كنعان صباغ) (August 5, 1911 – June 21, 1993) was a Lebanon, Lebanese-born Argentina, Argentine politician, long-serving senator for Neuquén Province, founder of the Neuqué ...
, later a
senator
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...
, and their younger brothers were Amado and José. Felipe Sapag studied in Zapala and
Bahía Blanca
Bahía Blanca (; English: ''White Bay''), colloquially referred to by its own local inhabitants as simply Bahía, is a city in the Buenos Aires Province, Buenos Aires province of Argentina, centered on the northwestern end of the eponymous Blanc ...
but could not finish his secondary education due to the hardship his family endured after the 1930 economic collapse. He and his brothers began to work to support the family and moved to
Cutral Có
Cutral Có is a city in the Confluencia Department of Neuquén Province in Argentina. It is part of the statistical area formed with neighboring Plaza Huincul.
The settlement is located in the desert, it was founded in 1933 after the discovery of ...
to set up a company. He and his brothers played leading roles in the community, and Felipe founded the local energy co-op and the sports and cultural centre. A
Peronist
Peronism, also known as justicialism, is an Argentine ideology and movement based on the ideas, doctrine and legacy of Juan Perón (1895–1974). It has been an influential movement in 20th- and 21st-century Argentine politics. Since 1946, Pe ...
activist, he became a councillor and the first mayor of Cutral-Có in 1952.
Following the military
coup d'etat and the banning of the Peronist movement, Sapag and his brothers, together with
Carlos Sobisch, founded the Neuquino People's Movement, a provincial political party able to contest elections. Originally called 'Provincial Politics', it was established on June 4, 1961.
Sapag first stood for governor in March 1962, but the
elections
An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...
were annulled by the military government. He was elected governor of Neuquén in 1963, gaining 60% of the vote, and left office in June 1966,
deposed by the military; among his administration's notable accomplishments were the establishment of the Neuquén Development Corporation (COPADE), the Bank of the Province of Neuquén, and the ''Universidad Provincial del Neuquén'' (today the
National University of Comahue
The National University of Comahue (, UNCNavarro, Fernando A. ''. Tremédica, Asociación Internacional de Traductores y Redactores de Medicina y Ciencias Afines/UNCoPortal de Prensa de la Uncoma, Universidad Nacional del Comahue'/Uncoma) is an ...
).
In 1970, in an unexpected decision, he accepted the offer of the military government to become
federal receiver of the province, ruling it until 1972. The following year he was re-elected governor but was again removed after the
1976 military coup.
Following the restoration of democracy, Sapag was returned to the governor's post by voters, serving in 1983–87 and 1995–99. Even in old age, he continued to be active in the politics of his province, and despite calls for him to be expelled from the party he helped found for supporting
Néstor Kirchner
Néstor Carlos Kirchner Ostoić (; 25 February 195027 October 2010) was an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as the president of Argentina from 2003 to 2007. A member of the Justicialist Party, he previously served as Governor of Sa ...
in the
2003 election, as well as for his support of members of the Sapag family in their campaigns.
Sapag was married to Estela Romeo. They had four children: Luis Felipe, Silvia Estela, Ricardo, and Enrique. Ricardo and Enrique
disappeared
An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person with the support or acquiescence of a state followed by a refusal to acknowledge the person's fate or whereabouts with the intent of placing ...
in the
Dirty War
The Dirty War () is the name used by the military junta or National Reorganization Process, civic-military dictatorship of Argentina () for its period of state terrorism in Argentina from 1974 to 1983. During this campaign, military and secu ...
that followed the 1976 coup, while Luis and Silvia followed their father into politics. The 93-year-old Felipe Sapag died in his home in Neuquén on March 14, 2010; Governor
Jorge Sapag
Jorge Augusto Sapag (b. July 18, 1951) is an Argentine politician and lawyer, a member of the Neuquino People's Movement (MPN) and governor of Neuquén Province in Argentina since 2007.
Born in Zapala, Neuquén Province, Jorge Sapag is a mem ...
, his nephew, declared seven days of official mourning in his honor.
''La Nación'' (15 Mar 2010
References
Sapag family history
by Luis Felipe Sapag
government of Neuquén
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sapag, Felipe
1917 births
2010 deaths
Argentine people of Lebanese descent
People from Neuquén Province
Mayors of places in Argentina
Governors of Neuquén Province
Neuquén People's Movement politicians
Sapag family