José Luis Cantilo (6 February 1871 – 11 October 1944) was an Argentine diplomat and politician of the Radical Civic Union. He served both as intendente (mayor) of the City of Buenos Aires and as governor of Buenos Aires Province during the 1920s. From 1936 to 1941, he also served as a National Deputy and as President of the Chamber of Deputies.

José Luis Cantilo
Cantilo c. 1930
President of the Chamber of Deputies
In office
25 April 1941 – 4 June 1943
Preceded byCarlos Noel
Succeeded byRicardo Guardo
National Deputy
In office
25 April 1936 – 4 June 1943
ConstituencyFederal Capital
Mayor of Buenos Aires
In office
15 November 1928 – 6 September 1930
PresidentHipólito Yrigoyen
Preceded byAdrián Fernández Casco
Succeeded byJosé Guerrico
In office
5 December 1919 – 25 October 1921
PresidentHipólito Yrigoyen
Preceded bySaturnino García Anido
Succeeded byJuan Bartneche
Governor of Buenos Aires
In office
1 May 1922 – 1 May 1926
Vice GovernorPedro Solanet
Preceded byLuis Monteverde
Succeeded byValentín Vergara
Personal details
Born(1871-02-06)6 February 1871
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Died11 October 1944(1944-10-11) (aged 73)
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Political partyRadical Civic Union

Early and personal life

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Cantilo was born on 6 February 1871 in Buenos Aires, son of José María Raimundo Cantilo Muñoz and Magdalena Ortiz Basualdo Quesada. In 1897, he married Josefina Alejandra Achával Rufino, with whom he had seven children: Rosa, Magdalena, Esther, Teresa, Rafael, José Luis, and Héctor.[1] José Luis (the younger) would also become involved in politics, and served as Minister of Defense in the caretaker administration of José María Guido.

Career

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A close friend of Hipólito Yrigoyen, Cantilo was part of Yrigoyen's clique and formed part of the Civic Union, later becoming a founding member of the Radical Civic Union (UCR) in 1891. He participated in the 1893 Revolution and the 1905 Revolution. In 1895, he was elected to the Buenos Aires Province Chamber of Deputies.[2]

In 1916, he founded La Época, a propagandist newspaper supporting the newly elected government of Yrigoyen.[3]

In 1917, Yrigoyen appointed Cantilo as federal interventor of Buenos Aires Province, until then governed by the conservative Marcelino Ugarte, a political opponent of Yrigoyen's. By 1918, Cantilo's administration had further intervened 44 municipalities, withholding fiscal taxes from them: the provincial government was no longer paying for hospital and police services in a number of localities, and police services had been suspended completely.[4]

In 1919, Yrigoyen appointed Cantilo as intendente (mayor) of the City of Buenos Aires. During Cantilo's mayorship, Buenos Aires held celebrations in commemoration of the centennial of Manuel Belgrano's passing. Cantilo frontlined the events alongside José Tamborini at Teatro Belgrano, located in the homonymous Belgrano barrio.[5] His term as mayor also saw the creation of the Barrio Cafferata, an unofficial working-class barrio in Parque Chacabuco.

In 1922, he was elected Governor of Buenos Aires Province in his own right. As governor, he mandated the establishment of the Organización Deportiva de la Provincia, the province's first sports organisation. His governorship also saw the provincial telegraph company declaring bankruptcy.[6]

Cantilo was elected to the National Chamber of Deputies in 1936, having run for a seat in the Federal Capital. He was elected as the Chamber's president in 1940, and held the position until the 1943 coup shut Congress down. Cantilo died the following year, on 11 October 1944.[2]

References

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  1. ^ Herrera Vegas, Diego Jorge (1993). "Los Cantilo de Buenos Aires". Genealogía (in Spanish). 26. Buenos Aires: Instituto Argentino de Ciencias Genealógicas: 307–344. ISSN 0325-7266.
  2. ^ a b Barovero, Diego Alberto (24 April 2021). "José Luis Cantilo, el dos veces intendente". La Prensa (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  3. ^ Senén González, Santiago (1 October 2011). "La Época hizo época solo unos días". Universidad Torcuato di Tella (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  4. ^ Otero, Hernán. Historia de la provincia de Buenos Aires. Población, ambiente y territorio (in Spanish). UNIPE. p. 371. ISBN 978-987-628-162-1.
  5. ^ Rossi, Mariana; Rossi, Alejandro (2019). 1820 - 1920 Centenario Belgraniano (in Spanish). Asociación Belgraniana de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. ISBN 9789878609867.
  6. ^ Palacio, Juan Manuel. Historia de la Provincia de Buenos Aires : tomo 4. De la federalización de Buenos Aires al advenimiento del peronismo (1880-1943) (in Spanish). UNIPE. p. 89. ISBN 9789876282680.
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Political offices
Preceded byas Governor Federal Interventor of Buenos Aires Province
1916–1918
Succeeded byas Governor
Preceded by
Saturnino García Anido
Mayor of Buenos Aires
1919–1921
Succeeded by
Juan Bartneche
Preceded by
Luis Monteverde
Governor of Buenos Aires Province
1928–1930
Succeeded by
Valentín Vergara
Preceded by
Adrián Fernández Casco
Mayor of Buenos Aires
1928–1930
Succeeded by
José Guerrico
Preceded by President of the Chamber of Deputies
1941–1943
Vacant
Title next held by
Ricardo Guardo