Juan Bautista Alberdi

Abstract

Juan Bautista Alberdi was born in Tucumán, Argentina, on August 29, 1810. In the same year his homeland began the struggle for the emancipation of Spain. After staying in the orphanage at the age of fifteen, he traveled on foot to the city of Buenos Aires touring the country from North to South, through the pampas and deserts. These two months allowed him to know the isolation of the peoples of the provinces, the depopulation and poverty of the countryside, and the natural wealth of his country.
In Buenos Aires he studied as a fellow at the Colegio de Ciencias Morales, which he could not do continuously for work. Later, he continued his studies at the University in the law degree. His prolific work as a writer began at the age of 24 with the publication of his "Descriptive Memory on Tucumán". In 1837 he wrote his "Preliminary Fragment to the Study of Law". For fifty years she published so many works, studies and articles that a complete collection would occupy more than a metre of bookage. Alberdi completed his studies of jurisprudence in 1838, in the midst of the dictatorship of General Juan Manuel de Rosas. To receive his doctor of laws degree he was required to swear according to a formula that repugnanted his free spirit, so he refused to lend it. This prevented him from obtaining an academic degree in Argentina.