Olegario Victor Andrade

Olegario Victor Andrade was a poet and a journalist. He was born on March 6, 1839 in Alegrete, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil as his parents had emigrated there due to political reasons.

In 1850, he returned to Argentina to study at Historico Colegio de Concepcion del Uruguay; where his education was funded by General Justo Jose de Urquiza. Six years later, he won a poetry contest with a lyric song called Mi Patria (My Homeland) that was dedicated to Urquiza and he abandoned his studies later that year.

In 1857, in Santa Fe, he took full responsibility for the management of El Patriota newspaper , which supported his protector Rosendo Fraga’s political ideas. As a result, he started working as a journalist in different newspapers such as El Mercantil, El Pueblo Entrerriano, El Porvenir and La Tribuna.

 Andrade settled permanently in Buenos Aires in 1875, and then collaborated with several magazines, for example, El Album del Hogar, La Ondina del Plata, Revista Literaria, El Arte del Plata, La Revista del Rio de la Plata and continued working full-time in La Tribuna.

In conclusion, Olegario was a poet and a journalist deeply involved in national politics. On October 25, 1882, he was coming back from Montevideo in order to start his second office as national deputy when he suffered a stroke. He finally died five days later in his house in Buenos Aires at the age of 43.

(Translated by Victoria Franchini)