| Samuel Alejandro Lafone Quevedo | |
| Other Names: | Samuel Alexander Lafone y Quevedo,[1] Samuel Alexander Lafone Quevedo, Don Samuel[2] |
| Birth Date: | 28 February 1835 |
| Birth Place: | Montevideo, Uruguay |
| Death Place: | La Plata, Argentina |
| Resting Place: | La Plata Cemetery |
| Nationality: | Uruguay-Argentina |
| Occupation: | industrialist, humanist, archaeologist, ethnographer, linguist |
| Organization: | National Academy of History of the Argentine Republic |
| Parents: | Samuel Fisher Lafone and María Quevedo y Alsina |
| Relatives: | Alfred Lafone (uncle) |
Samuel Alejandro Lafone Quevedo (Montevideo, 28 February 1835 – La Plata, 18 July 1920) was an Argentine industrialist, humanist, archaeologist, ethnographer, and linguist who was born in Uruguay.[3]
His father was Samuel Fisher Lafone, an Englishman of Huguenot origin, and his mother was Argentinian María de Quevedo y Alsina. He studied in England and graduated with a Master of Arts degree and a BA in humanities. Back in the Americas, he settled in Catamarca, Argentina, and took charge of his father's mining company and later of his own company, which he created after selling the former.[4]
Lafone delved deeply into the study of the region's indigenous history. He discovered the Ruins of Quilmes[5] and authored the book Londres and Catamarca, in which he published the results of his investigations. He also studied the relationships of the Juríes indigenous people (the Lules and Tonocotés or Tonokotés, nicknamed surís or ñandú by the Quechua invaders), researched the family relationships of the local indigenous population, and founded schools for these populations in Catamarca, as well as other schools for orphans and poverty-stricken communities.
In the late 19th century, he returned to Buenos Aires, where he took charge of La Plata Museum and the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the National University of La Plata. He received several awards during his career, including an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Buenos Aires (UBA). During this period, he also published the results of his research in several scientific journals.[3]
See main article: Samuel Fisher Lafone. At the age of thirteen, his father sent him to England, where he graduated with a Master of Arts degree, equivalent to a BA in humanities. In 1859, back in the Americas, he settled in Catamarca and took charge of the Capillitas Mines. He also bought a carob tree plantation located 25 km from Andalgalá with the money obtained from the sale of the Victoria plant that he inherited from his parents. He named this enterprise Pilciao and it remained in operation until 1894. Other jobs that required less effort, such as the sugar industry or the building of the railroad, made labor increasingly more expensive, which meant that this type of enterprise was no longer profitable. In 1902, he sold the property to the Capillitas Copper Company.[3] [6]
See main article: Ruins of Quilmes. Lafone was interested in the indigenous culture of the area. He travelled around the region, starting in Bolivia, and gathered data from the periods before and during the Inca Empire. He received support from his friends Bartolomé Mitre, Vicente F. López, and doctors Francisco Moreno and Juan B. Ambrosetti. Between 1883 and 1885, he wrote a series of articles for La Nación on various topics related to the archaeology, ethnography, geography, linguistics, folklore, and history of Catamarca. Years later, with some corrections, he gathered those articles and published them in book form under the title Londres y Catamarca. Regarding his interest in archaeology, he stated:[3] [7]
During one of his excursions, he discovered the Ruins of Quilmes, more precisely in the year 1888, when he made a quick visit to the site that allowed him to understand the complexity of the work. He refers to the ruins in his book Londres y Catamarca, as follows:
In 1890, economic circumstances changed, which forced him to start selling his properties at a very low price. He moved to Buenos Aires where he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA). In 1906, he took charge of La Plata Museum and, at the same time, joined the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the National University of La Plata as dean. He also became involved with the Society of History and Numismatics.[8]
One of his students described him in this manner:
In 1888, he began writing Historia de la Virgen del Valle, as the Virgin of the Valley was the patron saint of the city of San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca. He had a profound religious faith, which he professed until his last days.
His book Londres y Catamarca consisted of 400 pages. The chapter titles are Introducción (Introduction), Treinta cartas (Thirty Letters), Epílogo (Epilogue), and Apéndices (Appendices). The aim of the book was, according to what the author wrote in the prologue, to study the expedition of Diego de Roxas, the geographical location of the cities of Londres, Córdoba, and Calchaquí, and the foundations of the capital city of the province of Catamarca (San Fernando del Valle) and the city of Londres. There are several copies in print, although the location of only two is known so far: one in the library of the Juan B. Ambrosetti Museum of Ethnography in Buenos Aires and, according to the ACCEDER Digital Content Network catalog, there is another one at the Isaac Fernández Blanco Museum of Hispano-American Art.[9]
He studied the relationships of the Juríes indigenous people and researched the ethnological background of the region's various indigenous communities. In Catamarca, he founded schools for these populations that also served as homes for orphans and children from poverty-stricken communities. He also served as inspector of elementary education in the region of Andalgalá between 1878 and 1892. Some of his students were mentioned in a text written by Father Ramón Rosa Olmos:[10]
As a diversion, he formed an orchestra with his pupils and they ended up playing fairly well.
Works published by the researcher include:[11]