La Chacarita Cemetery

La Chacarita Cemetery
La Chacarita Cemetery
Cementerio de La Chacarita
	Main entrance on Av. Guzmán
Details
Established	April 14, 1871; 153 years ago
Location	Buenos Aires
Country	Argentina
Type	Public
Owned by	City of Buenos Aires
Size	95 hectares (230 acres)
Website	buenosaires.gob.ar/cementerio

The La Chacarita Cemetery (Spanish: Cementerio de la Chacarita, also known as "Cementerio del Oeste")^[1] is a cemetery located in the Chacarita neighborhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Occupying an area of 95 hectare, it is the largest in the country.^[1]

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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.^[3]^[4]^[5]

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). Until then, the "Cementerio del Sud" (opened in 1867 to bury the dead from cholera and typhoid fever epidemics, located in Parque Patricios) operated as the city's cemetery. During the yellow fever epidemic over 700 people per day were buried there. When the capacity of 18,000 collapsed, the cemetery was closed and a search for a new place started.^[2]

Governor Emlio Mitre created the "Enterratorio General de Buenos Aires", which would be built on a land in the "Chacarita de los Colegiales". The name "chácara" mean "agricultural land" while "Colegiales" referred to students of Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires that had spent their summertime at those lands since the 18th. century. In the northwest section, a 5-hectare land was chosen, in the same place where a cemetery owned by Jesuit priests existed. Lands that were part of Partido de Belgrano were expropriated. Those lands were used for agriculture purposes, most of them were gardens with a few ranches on them. Mitre also ordered the construction of a road to access the cemetery and a railroad.^[2]

The cemetery was opened on 14 April 1817, surrounded by Avenida Dorrego, Jorge Newbery, Avenida Corrientes, and Av. Guzmán. Its main entrance was located on Av. Corrientes. As the epidemic went by, coffins accumulated at the cemetery's door, sometimes buries took a week due to the great amount of victims.^[2]

Rolling stock used to transport coffins to the cemetery: "Tramway Rural" coaches (left) were pulled by La Porteña locomotive (right)

British rail company Buenos Aires Western Railway was commissioned to build a 6-km length line from the Buenos Aires downtown to the cemetery. It was nicknamed tren fúnebre and departed from Av. Corrientes and Ecuador (Bermejo station, a huge shed where the coffins were loaded). It had two sops, the first on Medrano street and the other on Ministro Inglés street (today Av. Scalabrini Ortiz) where the train loaded more coffins.^[2] Workshops were on Corrientes and Pueyrredón streets and they served as terminus for a short time.^[6]

Works (that had a cost of m$n 2,2 million) were directed by French engineer Augusto Ringuelet who finished it on 11 April.^[6] Trains were pulled by La Porteña,^[2] the locomotive that had served in the inauguration of the Argentine railway network in 1857.^[7] The last wagon was occupied by dead relatives. The service had a frequency of 2 trains per day.^[2] Between February and June, more than 15,000 people died.^[8]

In that first Chacarita Cemetery (also known as "Cementerio Viejo"), 3,423 people were buried until it was closed in 1886. The current Chacarita Cemetery was officially established on 9 December 1886. It had been projected by French engineer Enrique Clement during the government of major Torcuato de Alvear, and was initially named "Cementerio del Oeste" but then renamed as its predecessor in 1949.^[2]

The original Cementerio Viejo of Parque Patricios would be reopened in 1880 to bury the dead of Combate de los Corrales, a fight for Buenos Aires that took place on 22 June. In 1897 it was transformed into a public park, being today the "Parque Florentino Ameghino".^[2]^[8]

British and German Cemeteries

British (left) and German cemetery chapels

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.

La Chacarita Cemetery

Notable burials in La Chacarita cemetery include:

Carlos Acuña (1914–1999), tango singer, composer
Aída Alberti (1915–2006), actress
Alfredo Alcón (1930–2014), actor
Oscar Alemán (1909–1980), jazz musician
José Alonso (trade unionist), (1917–1970)
José Amalfitani (1894–1969), president of the Vélez Sarsfield football team
Alberto Anchart (1931–2011), actor
Cosme Argerich (1758–1820), doctor and pioneer of military field medicine
Manuel Argerich (1835–1871), physician, philosopher, lawyer
Mirta Arlt (1923–2014), writer, professor, translator
Emin Arslan (1868–1943), diplomat, writer, editor
Fernando Báez Sosa (2001–2020), law student
María Lorenza Barreneche (1926–2016), First Lady of Argentina^[9]
Guillermo Battaglia (1899–1988), actor
Nelly Beltrán (1925–2007), actress
Antonio J. Benítez (1903–1992), politician
Paquita Bernardo (1900–1925), musician, tango composer
Antonio Berni (1905–1981), painter
Eladia Blázquez (1931–2005), tango vocalist and composer
Alejandra Boero (1918–2006), actress
Oscar Bonavena (1942–1976), heavyweight boxer
Ángel Borlenghi (1904–1962), trade-unionist and Peronist politician
Sofía Bozán (1904–1958), actress and tango vocalist
Alfredo Bravo (1925–2003), Socialist politician
Alicia Bruzzo (1945–2007), actress
Clemar Bucci (1920–2011), race car driver
Enrique Cadícamo (1900–1999), author, tango lyricist
Francisco Canaro (1888–1964), tango bandleader and composer
Evaristo Carriego (1883–1912), poet, journalist
Adolfo Castelo (1935–2004), news anchorman
Alberto Castillo (1914–2002), tango singer
Orestes Caviglia (1893–1971), stage director and actor
Cátulo Castillo (1906–1975), musician, composer, poet, boxer
Gustavo Cerati (1959–2014), rock singer, songwriter, composer, producer
José Cibrián (1916–2002), stage director and actor
Pascual Contursi (1888–1932), tango composer
Carlos Cores (1923–2000), actor
Juan d'Arienzo (1900–1976), orchestra leader
Julio de Caro (1899–1980), tango bandleader and composer
Juan de Dios Filiberto (1885–1964), tango composer
Carlos di Sarli (1903–1960), tango bandleader
Guido di Tella (1931–2001), Foreign Minister
Torcuato di Tella (1892–1948), industrialist
Edgardo Donato (1897–1963), tango composer
Vito Dumas (1900–1965), navigator
Ulises Dumont (1937–2008), actor
Samuel Eichelbaum (1894–1967), writer
Homero Expósito (1918–1987), tango lyricist
Ada Falcón (1905–2002), tango vocalist
Eduardo Falú (1923–2013), folk musician
Edelmiro Farrell (1887–1980), President of Argentina
León Ferrari (1920–2013), conceptual artist
Roberto Firpo (1884–1969), tango composer
Norma Fontenla (1930–1971), prima ballerina
Osvaldo Fresedo (1897–1984), bandoneónist and tango composer
María Rosa Gallo (1925–2004), actress
Leopoldo Galtieri (1926–2003), President of Argentina
Óscar Alfredo Gálvez (1913–1989), race car driver
Carlos Gardel (1890–1935), iconic tango singer, actor
José María Gatica (1925–1963), boxer
Carlos Enrique Gavito (1942–2005), tango dancer
Severino Di Giovanni (1901–1931), Italian anarchist
Enrique Gorriarán Merlo (1941–2006), founder of ERP terrorist group
Roberto Goyeneche (1926–1994), tango singer
Paul Groussac (1848–1929), French-born writer, historian
Bernardo Houssay (1887–1971), Nobel Prize in Medicine
José Ingenieros (1877–1925), physician and philosopher
Maurice Jouvet (1923–1999), French-born actor
Ángel Labruna (1918–1983), football player
Lydia Lamaison (1914–2012), actress
Juan Carlos Lectoure (1936–2002), boxing promoter
Inda Ledesma (1926–2010), actress
Alfredo Le Pera (1900–1935), tango composer
Irineo Leguisamo (1903–1985), thoroughbred racing jockey
Antonio Vespucio Liberti (1900–1978), president of the River Plate football team
Nélida Lobato (1934–1982), dancer
María Loredo (1854–1928), faith healer
Gianni Lunadei (1938–1998), actor
Tito Lusiardo (1896–1982), tango dancer
Pedro Maffia (1899–1967), bandoneónist
Agustín Magaldi (1898–1938), tango vocalist
Azucena Maizani (1902–1970), tango vocalist
Homero Manzi (1907–1951), writer and tango composer
Mona Maris (1903–1991), actress
Duilio Marzio (1923–2013), actor
Tita Merello (1904–2002), actress
Alberto Migré (1931–2006), screenwriter
Zully Moreno (1920–1999), actress
Oscar Moro (1948–2006), rock drummer
Federico Moura (1951–1988), singer, songwriter
Jorge Newbery (1875–1914), pioneer aviator, sportsman
Oscar Núñez (1929–2012), actor
Alberto Olmedo (1933–1988), comedian
Juan Carlos Onganía (1914–1995), President of Argentina
Pappo (1950–2005), musician (cremated here, ashes were scattered)
Mario Passano (1925–1995), actor
Malvina Pastorino (1916–1994), actress
Adolfo Pedernera (1918–1995), football player
Ivo Pelay (1893–1959), poet, playwright
Pascual Pérez (1926–1977), champion boxer
Nathán Pinzón (1917–1993), actor
Pablo Podestá (1875–1923), actor
Jorge Porcel (1936–2006), comedian
Javier Portales (1937–2003), comedian
Glenn Postolski (1966-2024), Professor and academic
Osvaldo Pugliese (1905–1995), composer, pianist
Benito Quinquela Martín (1890–1977), painter
Francisco Rabanal (1906–1982), Mayor of Buenos Aires
Pedro Pablo Ramírez (1884–1962), President of Argentina
Raúl Riganti (1893–1970), race car driver
Edmundo Rivero (1911–1986), tango vocalist
Nélida Roca (1929–1999), dancer
Alberto Rocamora (1911–2004), politician
José Ignacio Rucci (1924–1973), trade-unionist
Luis Sandrini (1905–1980), comedian
Enrique Santos Discépolo (1901–1951), tango composer
Enrique Sdrech (1928–2003), journalist
Mohamed Alí Seineldín (1933–2009), mutinous Army officer
Enrique Serrano (1891–1965), actor
Osvaldo Soriano (1943–1997), novelist
Hugo Soto (actor) (1953–1994)
Alfonsina Storni (1892–1938), poet
Carlos Thays (1849–1934), landscape designer and urbanist
Juan Carlos Thorry (1908–2000), actor, entertainer
Cacho Tirao (1941–2007), guitarist
Leopoldo Torre Nilsson (1924–1978), film director
Lolita Torres (1930–2002), actress, singer
Aníbal Troilo (1914–1975), musician
Saúl Ubaldini (1936–2006), trade-unionist
Augusto Vandor (1923–1969), trade-unionist
Ángel Villoldo (1861–1919), the "father of Tango"
Roberto Viola (1924–1994), President of Argentina
María Elena Walsh (1930–2011), poet and composer
Héctor Yazalde (1946–1997), football player
Tincho Zabala (1923–2001), comedian
Marcos Zucker (1921–2003), actor

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 football
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