Robustiano Patrón Costas (August 5, 1878 – September 24, 1965) 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 and businessman who served as

Governor of Salta Province The governor of Salta () is a citizen of the Salta Province, in Argentina, holding the office of governor for the corresponding period. The governor is elected alongside a vice-governor. Currently the governor of Salta is Gustavo Sáenz. Governors ...

. He led the National Democratic Party.

Biography

Patrón Costas was born in

Salta Salta () is the capital and largest city in the Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Salta Province, the same name. With a population of 618,375 according to the 2010 census, it is also the List of cities in Argentina, 7th most-populous ...

to Francisca Costas Figueroa and Robustiano Patrón. He studied law 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 ...

, receiving his doctorate in 1901. The following year, Patrón Costas was appointed minister of works for

Salta Province Salta () is a Provinces of Argentina, province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the east clockwise Formosa Province, Formosa, Chaco Province, Chaco, Santiago del Estero Province, Santiago del Es ...

by Governor Ángel Zerda, and in 1912, he served as the head of government for Governor Avelino Figueroa. He was appointed to complete Figueroa's term as governor from 1913 to 1916. In 1916, Patrón Costas was elected as a National Democrat to the

Argentine Senate The Honorable Senate of the Argentine Nation () is the upper house of the National Congress of Argentina. Overview The National Senate was established by the Argentine Confederation on July 29, 1854, pursuant to Articles 46 to 54 of the 185 ...

, serving until 1925, when he returned to Salta's provincial legislature as president of the Senate. He was re-elected to the national Senate in 1932 and again in 1938. As the Provisional President of the Senate he briefly served as interim president of Argentina in the early 1940s. He was close to President

Ramón Castillo Ramón Antonio Castillo Barrionuevo (20 November 1873 – 12 October 1944) was President of Argentina from 1942 to 1943. He took office after the resignation of President Roberto María Ortiz, under whom he was the Vice President. He was ...

and a leading figure in the governing '' Concordancia''. In 1942 he was announced as the government's candidate to succeed the president.Cervantes Virtual
/ref> His candidacy proved widely unpalatable, however: the wealthy Patrón Costas was a synonym for the staunchly conservative provincial aristocracies that maintained Northern Argentina in a quasi-feudal state, and there were widespread rumors that the government planned a massive fraud to install him as president. A coup in 1943 put an end to Castillo's government and Patron Costas' candidacy. As a businessman, Patrón Costas' name is often associated with the sugar industry. In 1918 he and his brother founded the sugar refinery ''Ingenio San Martín de Tabacal'' in

Orán Department : ''For the historical département in Algeria, see Oran (department).'' Orán is a department of the province of Salta (Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It cover ...

which at one time was one of the largest in the Western hemisphere. The company is owned by the

Seaboard Corporation Seaboard Corporation is a diverse multinational agribusiness and transportation conglomerate with integrated operations in several industries. In the United States, the company mainly engages in pork production and processing and ocean transpo ...

. Patrón Costas worked with the Archbishop of Salta, Roberto Tavella, to establish the Catholic University of Salta, a private university. He was awarded a knighthood in the Pontifical

Order of St. Gregory the Great The Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great (; ) was established on 1 September 1831, by Pope Gregory XVI, seven months after his election as Pope. The order is one of the five Papal order of knighthood, orders of knighthood of th ...

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patron Costas, Robustiano Argentine manufacturing businesspeople People of the Infamous Decade 1878 births 1965 deaths People from Salta University of Buenos Aires alumni Argentine people of Spanish descent Knights of St. Gregory the Great Argentine businesspeople Members of the Argentine Senate for Buenos Aires Provisional presidents of the Argentine Senate Governors of Salta Province Businesspeople awarded knighthoods