La Chacarita Cemetery
Cementerio de la Chacarita in Buenos Aires, Argentina, is known as the National Cemetery and is the largest in Argentina.
| Cementerio de la Chacarita | |
|---|---|
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| Details | |
| Established | April 14 th 1871 |
| Location | |
| Country | Argentina |
| Type | Public |
| Size | 95 hectares (230 acres) |
Location
The cemetery is in the barrio or district of Chacarita, in the western part of Buenos Aires. Its main entrance is on Avenida Guzmán.
History
The cemetery owes its existence to a yellow fever epidemic in 1871, when existing cemeteries were strained beyond capacity (the upscale La Recoleta Cemetery refused to allow the burial of victims of the epidemic). Students of the College of San Carlos appropriated 5 hectares (12 acres) in the adjoining Colegiales area for this purpose, but had their facility closed by the city in 1886. The New Chacarita Cemetery began to function in 1887 and was formally designated as such in 1896.
Chacarita Cemetery has designated areas for members of the Argentine artistic community, including writers, prominent composers and actors. The late Justicialist leader and former President Juan Perón was buried here until his remains were relocated in 2006 to a mausoleum in his former home in San Vicente.
British and German Cemeteries
In the 19th century a large number of Britons came to Argentina to work in the many areas of the economy in which England then had extensive interests. At first the British Cemetery was founded beside the Socorro Chapel (started 1821 - authorized on 22 February 1822). In 1833 the cemetery had to move to what was then called Victoria Cemetery (today the "Plaza 1° de Mayo") until November, 1892, when they were asked by the Municipality to move. Section 16 of the Chacarita Cemetery was given in exchange for the Victoria Cemetery. Eventually in 1913 the Cementerio Británico (English: British Cemetery) (or so called "De Disidentes or Corporación del Cementerio Británico de Bs. As.") was divided into the German and the British cemeteries as we know them today, because the two local communities had grown since the beginning of the 19th century.
The British Cemetery and the German Cemetery are today not managed by or part of Chacarita Cemetery.
Notable interments
La Chacarita Cemetery
- Notable burials in La Chacarita cemetery include:
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British Cemetery
- Lucas Bridges (1874–1949), Anglo-Argentine author
- Thomas Bridges (1842–1898), Anglican missionary
- Frank Brown (1858–1943), popular English clown
- Jeannette Campbell (1916–2003), swimmer
- Cecilia Grierson (1859–1934), physician and feminist
- Alexander Watson Hutton (1853–1936), founder of Argentine Soccer
- Juan Bautista Thorne (1807–1885), Army Colonel
German Cemetery
- Hans Langsdorff (1894–1939), Captain of the World War II pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee
- Friedrich Bergius (1884–1949), Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- Annemarie Heinrich (1912–2005), photographer
References
- Cremated at La Chacarita, burial in La Recoleta Cemetery) "Murió María Lorenza Barreneche, la viuda de Raúl Alfonsín". La Nación. 2016-01-06. Retrieved 2016-01-10.
External links
- La Chacarita Cemetery cultural historical heritage rescue webpage by Hernán Santiago Vizzari (in Spanish)
- Google Maps
- British Cemetery Corporation of Buenos Aires by Eduardo A. Kesting (in Spanish and English)
- La Chacarita Cemetery at Find a Grave