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Ignacio Lucas Albarracín
Ignacio Lucas Albarracín | |
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Ignacio Lucas Albarracín (Córdoba, July 31, 1850 – Lomas de Zamora, April 29, 1926) was an Argentine jurist and lawyer. He is known for having been secretary and second President of the Argentine Society for the Protection of Animals, succeeding Domingo Faustino Sarmiento. One of his best-known projects was the establishment of Animal Day in Argentina, celebrated every April 29 since 1908. Years later, that date would coincidentally match the day of his death in 1926, and from then on he would also be honored on it.[1][2] He was born in Córdoba,[3] but he always considered himself a native of San Juan because his father, the San Juan-born Colonel Santiago Albarracín, was living as a refugee in that city for political reasons. For this reason he also appears as born in San Juan in many official documents.[4]
He set up his law office in Buenos Aires and, alongside him, took part in some political struggles. He devoted himself to his profession and accepted no office of a political nature. He was secretary of the Argentine Society for the Protection of Animals, founded in 1879. He succeeded Sarmiento as President of that organization in 1885, a post he held until his death. During his tenure he campaigned against cockfighting, bullfighting and pigeon shooting. He was one of the promoters of the National Animal Protection Law (No. 2786), enacted on July 25, 1891, commonly called the Sarmiento Law, a pioneering law against cruelty to animals in the country.[5]
Youth
Ignacio Lucas Albarracín was born in Córdoba on July 31, 1850. On the feast of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, he was baptized with the names Lucas Ignacio Emiliano.[6] His parents were Colonel Santiago Albarracín, a relative of Domingo Faustino Sarmiento,[notes 1] and Flora Rojo, who in turn was related to San Juan figures such as Guillermo Rawson (cousin), José Rudecindo Rojo (father), Camilo Rojo (brother) and Anselmo Rojo (uncle).
He received his primary education in San Juan. After earning his bachelor's degree at the Colegio Montserrat in Córdoba, he came to Buenos Aires, when the Federal Capital did not yet exist, where he graduated with a doctorate in jurisprudence from the Faculty of Law and Social Sciences of the National University of Buenos Aires on May 1, 1873.[1] For a time he worked as Sarmiento's personal secretary, during the latter's post-presidential period, which resulted in a deep friendship and a close relationship strengthened at the house of Flora Rojo, his mother, where prominent people such as Bartolomé Mitre, Guillermo Rawson and Sarmiento used to gather to dine and debate.[7]
Owner of a modest fortune, more than enough for his simple way of life, he soon found what became the goal of his life and for which he fought until his death: the need to defend all animals, understanding that even while accepting their inferiority with respect to man, there was no need to torment them, punish them or take pleasure in their pain.
Founding of the Argentine Society for the Protection of Animals
Together with Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, Bartolomé Mitre, the Reverend J. F. Thomson, Guido y Spano and Vicente Fidel López, he founded the Argentine Society for the Protection of Animals on August 21, 1879. He served as its first secretary, and later succeeded Sarmiento as president in 1885 until his death, thus becoming the first to be popularly elected to the post.[5]
Albarracín began his crusade against the breaking of colts, cockfighting, bullfighting, cruelty in the slaughter of cattle, and pigeon shooting, and for the protection of draft horses (securing the requirement that they be fitted with head protection on summer days). One recorded episode of his activism was the occasion on which he involved the authorities to stop a carter from mistreating a horse on the public street. Albarracín had witnessed the man mercilessly using the whip on the animal, which led him first to rebuke him and later to get the police to stop the beating.[5]
He promoted the National Animal Protection Law No. 2786, known as the Sarmiento Law.[5]
During his presidency, Albarracín was the target of public mockery, the subject of caricatures and sarcasm.[8] He was nicknamed "the madman" for his conviction in defending animals.[9] He was also a member of the League against white slavery and chaired the committee on public morality. He also opposed the mistreatment of indigenous communities. He used part of his fortune to finance the Society's activities.
Animal Day in Argentina
In 1907 Albarracín arranged with Ponciano Vivanco, president of the National Council of Education, the celebration of the Festival of the Animal, taking as a model the Animal Sunday observance held in London by church pastors, where sermons were preached to instill respect for animals. The project was approved and added to the following year's calendar for its celebration. The first celebration in 1908 was moved from April 29 to May 2 due to rain. The inaugural event was held at the Zoo in the presence of the President of the Nation, Figueroa Alcorta, several ministers and 15,000 schoolchildren,[notes 2] and 500 homing pigeons were released.[10] Subsequent celebrations were held on the agreed date of April 29,[1] a time of year chosen by Albarracín for the mild autumn weather.[9]
Personal life and legacy
He married Sara Bibiana Carranza Davison, with whom he had nine children: Ignacio Jorge, Sara María, Mario Enrique, Raquel Margarita, Enrique Pedro, Flora Carmen, Raquel Margarita, Arturo Santiago and María Dora. He lived in Tigre, Buenos Aires and Lomas de Zamora.[11] He has been described as a person of modest character[5] and of vegetarian conviction.[9]
Albarracín died of cardiac arrest on April 29, 1926, at his residence at 454 Boedo Street in Lomas de Zamora, coincidentally on the same date on which he had established Animal Day in the country. Since then he has also been honored on that day.[1][12] He was buried in the Lomas de Zamora Cemetery, directly in the ground and without any monument of importance. A year later he was moved to his definitive tomb on the grounds, where his remains rest alongside those of his wife. A 2020 bill proposed declaring his original tomb a National Historic Sepulcher.[5]
See also
Notes
- ↑ Strictly speaking, Santiago Albarracín was a double second cousin of Sarmiento. Sources commonly describe Ignacio Lucas's relationship with Sarmiento as that of a second nephew,[5] or refer to Sarmiento directly as his uncle.[1]
- ↑ The newspaper La Nación estimated that 15,000 children attended, while La Argentina calculated that there were 13,000, plus 8,000 adults.[9]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "Día del Animal y homenaje al Dr. Ignacio Lucas Albarracín". museosarmiento.cultura.gob.ar (in español). Sarmiento Historical Museum, Ministry of Culture (Argentina). Retrieved February 3, 2024.
- ↑ "29 de abril: Día del Animal". argentina.gob.ar (in español). April 28, 2017. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
- ↑ Parish register of the Cathedral of Córdoba, where he was baptized on August 4, 1850.
- ↑ Family archive of Jorge Lintrup Albarracín, Stockholm, Sweden.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 Álvarez Rodríguez, Cristina (2020). "PROYECTO DE LEY DECLARAR "SEPULCRO HISTÓRICO NACIONAL" LA TUMBA DEL DR. IGNACIO LUCAS ALBARRACÍN, FUNDADOR DE LA SOCIEDAD PROTECTORA DE ANIMALES" (PDF) (in español). Argentine Chamber of Deputies. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
- ↑ Parish register of the Cathedral of Córdoba, baptismal book No. 14, 1o. f.113.
- ↑ Anécdotas inéditas de Arturo Albarracín, archive of Jorge Lintrup Albarracín, Stockholm, Sweden.
- ↑ César H. Guerrero: Dr. Ignacio L. Abarracín - Un protector de los animales, Sociedad Protectora de animales "Sarmiento", San Juan 1971.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Montecinos Pincheira, Elizabeth (April 29, 2019). "¿Quién fue Ignacio Albarracín, el primer animalista argentino?". unidiversidad.com.ar (in español). National University of Cuyo. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
- ↑ Dr. Rubén M. Gatti, 2004.
- ↑ Family archive of: Jorge Lintrup Albarracín, Stockholm, Sweden.
- ↑ "¿Quién fue Ignacio Albarracín y por qué los animales en Argentina le deben tanto?". Diario El Libertador (in español). April 29, 2022. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
