José Gervasio Artigas

José Gervasio Artigas Arnal (; June 19, 1764 – September 23, 1850) was a soldier and statesman who is regarded as a national hero in Uruguay and the father of Uruguayan nationhood.

Born in Montevideo, Artigas enlisted in the Spanish military in 1797 and fought the British in the Anglo-Spanish War. At the outbreak of the Spanish-American wars of independence, Artigas supported the Primera Junta in Buenos Aires against Spain. He defeated the Spanish royalists at Las Piedras and laid siege to Montevideo, but was forced to withdraw in the face of Portuguese intervention. Artigas subsequently broke with the centralist government of Buenos Aires and took over Montevideo in 1815. He then oversaw the creation of the Federal League, an alliance of six provinces under a federal style of government. In 1816, the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves invaded the Banda Oriental, eventually annexing it as a province. Artigas was driven into Paraguay, where he lived in exile until his death in 1850. His remains were re-interred at the Central Cemetery of Montevideo in 1855, and in 1977 they were transferred to the Artigas Mausoleum. Provided by Wikipedia