Dispatch from Argentina

In October of 1865, the Argentinian educator and statesman Domingo F. Sarmiento (1811-1888) met Ralph Waldo Emerson in Concord through their mutual friend, Mary (Peabody) Mann. Sarmiento went on to serve as President of Argentina from 1868 to 1874 and was a prolific writer, his works published in 52 books.

Argentinian writer Ezequiel Martínez Estrada (1895-1964) wrote about Sarmiento in several of his own books. A foundation in the city of Bahía Blanca (600 km. south of Buenos Aires) preserves the memory of Martínez Estrada, and, to honor the 60th anniversary of his death, hosted an international meeting celebrating the author from November 2-7, 2024.

On November 4th, professor and architect Gustavo A. Brandariz of the University of Buenos Aires gave a lecture detailing the history of the concept of “nature” and “landscape” from Greek philosophers to the present, focusing in particular on the close ideological link seen between five thinkers and prolific writers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, Henry David Thoreau, Guillermo Enrique Hudson (aka William Henry Hudson), and Ezequiel Martínez Estrada.

The talk, in Spanish, is available for viewing on YouTube or directly from this page. Our thanks to Professor Brandariz for sharing it with us.