Carlos Maria Alvear (redirected from Carlos María de Alvear)

Alvear, Carlos Maria 

Born 1789; died Nov. 3, 1852. Argentine political and military figure of the war for independence; general.

From 1806 to 1811, Alvear served in the royal army in Spain and participated in the Spanish people’s war against the French aggressors (1808–14). Returning to Buenos Aires in 1812, he began to play a prominent role in the liberation struggle of the Argentine patriots. In 1813 he was chairman of the General Constitutional Assembly of the province of La Plata, and in 1814 he led the patriots of Buenos Aires in forcing the Spaniards to capitulate in Montevideo. In 1815 he became supreme ruler of the provinces of La Plata. However, his desire for personal power and his consent to the establishment of the British protectorate over the La Plata provinces brought about his downfall. Alvear fled abroad in 1815. After being pardoned in 1821, he returned to Buenos Aires and served as Argentine envoy to the USA (1824, 1838), military and naval minister, and commander in chief of the Argentine armed forces (1826). He died in the USA.

REFERENCE

Davis, T. B. C. de Alvear, Man of Revolution. Durham, 1955. (Bibliography.)