Moreno, Mariano

Moreno, Mariano (märyä`nō mōrā`nō), 1778–1811, Argentine revolutionist and publicist. He became prominent as legal counselor to the royal audiencia and to the cabildo of Buenos Aires. His condemnation of the Spanish colonial system and his advocacy of liberal economic principles attracted attention. A leader in the revolution of May, 1810, which deposed the Spanish viceroy, he was secretary of the first revolutionary governing junta and exerted a significant influence. He founded (June 7, 1810) the Gazeta de Buenos Aires and, as editor, championed in its columns his democratic, reform ideas. In 1810 he founded the national library. His liberal policy provoked a conflict with the conservatives, who, in spite of Moreno's opposition, admitted provincial deputies to the junta; Moreno resigned (Dec., 1810). His resignation checked the democratic movement in the Río de la Plata and initiated a protracted struggle between Buenos Aires and the country provinces. Appointed to a diplomatic mission abroad, he sailed for Europe (Jan., 1811) and died at sea.

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Moreno, Mariano 

Born Sept. 3, 1778, in Buenos Aires; died Mar. 4, 1811. Argentine political and social figure, historian, and fighter for South America’s freedom from Spain.

As a leader of the Patriotic Junta, the first Argentine government formed after the victory of the May Revolution of 1810, Moreno advocated establishment of a republic, separation of church and state, and limitation on major landholdings. He also insisted on centralization of the country’s administration. But disputes within the junta forced Moreno to withdraw from it. In 1811 he was appointed ambassador to Great Britain, but died on the journey to London. The ideas expressed in Moreno’s essays and addresses became a call to revolution for many generations of Argentines.

WORKS

Escritos politicos y economicos. Buenos Aires, 1915.