Guillermo Rawson | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1821-06-24)24 June 1821 |
| Died | 2 February 1890(1890-02-02) (aged 68) |
| Occupation | Doctor |
| Known for | Interior Minister of Argentina |
| Political party | Nationalist Party |
Guillermo Rawson (24 June 1821 – 2 February 1890) was a medical doctor and politician in nineteenth-centuryArgentina. In 1862, when he was the Interior Minister of Argentina, he met CaptainLove Jones-Parry andLewis Jones, who were on their way to Patagonia to investigate whether it was suitable for the creation of aWelsh settlement there. Rawson came to an agreement with them, and this resulted in the creation of a colony in theChubut Valley in the following years. The city ofRawson, the capital of the province ofChubut, was named after him.
Rawson's parents wereAmán Rawson, a doctor who had emigrated from the United States to Argentina, and Justina Rojo, a daughter of a wealthy family inSan Juan, where Guillermo was born. His elder brother was the artistFranklin Rawson. His half-brother was Lieutenant ColonelJuan de Dios Rawson, grandfather ofArturo Rawson.
After aJesuit education in San Juan, Rawson graduated from the Medical Faculty ofUniversity of Buenos Aires in 1844. Rawson became interested in politics and democracy. In 1853, he was jailed for opposingNazario Benavidez, thecaudillo orde facto governor of San Juan. The following year he was a member of theParaná Congress, and from 1862, he was Interior Minister in the government ofBartolomé Mitre.
Apart from politics, Rawson was interested in medicine and hygiene. In 1876, he attended theCentennial Exposition inPhiladelphia to present his work on public health in Buenos Aires, the most developed body of work on the subject at the time. In 1879, he was elected a member of theAmerican Antiquarian Society.[1]
Rawson spent a year inParis in 1881 for medical treatment, before returning to Argentina. He returned to France for further treatment in 1885 and died in Paris in 1890.
The building of the first medical school in Buenos Aires is named Escuela Dr Guillermo Rawson in his honour.
