Mariquita Sanchez’s Salon in Exile

Mariquita Sanchez’s Salon in Exile

Jeffrey M. Shumway, PhD

Brigham Young University

Mariquita Sanchez was an influential member of Buenos Aires society from the time of the May Revolution in 1810 to her death in 1866.  Despite her prominence, the historiography on her, particularly in English, is scant.  For years, beginning after her marriage in 1804, Mariquita hosted a popular salon, frequented by prominent porteños as well as foreigners, which she modeled on what she knew of French salons of the time.  As such she served as a conduit of European ideas into Argentina.  She was active in the revolutionary movement of the time, and was credited with being the first to sing the newly-composed national anthem in 1813.  Widowed in 1819, her salon continued after she married her second husband, a young Frenchman who would be named the first French consul to Argentina soon thereafter.  During the rule of Juan Manuel de Rosas, Mariquita went into exile in Montevideo, during which time her salon continued, albeit a bit more informally.  Her home became a destination for other exiles, in particular members of the Generation of ’37, for whom Mariquita was an inspirational symbol of the original ideals of the May Revolution, now so corrupted by the Rosas regime.  Mariquita also served as a kind of surrogate mother to these young liberals.  This paper will explore Mariquita Sanchez’s salon-in-exile and its influence on other influential exiles that would later have a major hand in reshaping Argentina after Rosas’ fall.