Juan Silvano Godoi
Encyclopedia
Childhood and studies
He was born in AsuncionAsunción
Asunción is the capital and largest city of Paraguay.The "Ciudad de Asunción" is an autonomous capital district not part of any department. The metropolitan area, called Gran Asunción, includes the cities of San Lorenzo, Fernando de la Mora, Lambaré, Luque, Mariano Roque Alonso, Ñemby, San...
on November 12, 1850. He was the son of the Colonel Juan Vicente Godoy and Petrona Echagüe. Narciso Echagüe y Andía, his mother’s father, was one of the leaders of the national independence. He was imprisoned during Francia’s dictatorship, and shot after twenty years in jail.
Juan Silvano studied in the Jesuit College of the Inmaculate Conception in the city of Santa Fe
Santa Fe, Argentina
Santa Fe is the capital city of province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It sits in northeastern Argentina, near the junction of the Paraná and Salado rivers. It lies opposite the city of Paraná, to which it is linked by the Hernandarias Subfluvial Tunnel. The city is also connected by canal with the...
, Argentina. There, he was the disciple of José Zorrilla de San Martín. In the holydays of 1864, he spent some time in Asunción. Due to his short age and good luck, Francisco Solano López authorized him to continue his education in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
. This way, he escaped along with two of his brothers, the foulness of a war in which sixteen of the Echagüe family died. Some of the deceased were meritorious soldiers.
He entered the Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
School of Law, and stayed there during the whole war. In January 1869, once Asuncion was occupied, he interrupted his studies to move back to their land with a group of young fellow patriots. This was done as an attempt to help reconstruct the nation. In spite of his religious formation, Godoi had become a mason
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
and a freethinker.
The post-war
As a youngster Juan Silvano had begun replacing the “y” in his original surname (Godoy) for an “I”.He was lucky enough to live through the dark postwar years in Paraguay. His strong and idealist personality forced him to get involved in the corrupt national politics. He did everything he could to help reconstruct a shattered country, but the politics scene was full of power disputes. Shortly he was known as one the main politicians in the scene. Many politicians were killed or exiled in their attempt to establish a national order.
During the time he spent in Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
after his return he knew many young national leaders. He was a co-founder of the Great Club of the People along with José Segundo Decoud, Facundo Machaín
Facundo Machaín
Facundo Machaín was President of Paraguay. His period of government was short but very important for the political situation of the country at the time.-His life:...
, Juan José Decoud, Cayo Miltos
Cayo Miltos
Cayo Doroteo Miltos was a Paraguayan politician.He studied in universities in Argentina and Sorbonne. He returned to Paraguay in 1869 and was a political ally of Facundo Machaín and Juan Antonio Jara...
and Miguel Palacios. He witnessed how many of his previously mentioned fellows vanished.
He was elected as a conventional in the district of the Cathedral. He was a member of the commission that was in charge of redacting the Constitution of 1870. Once the triumvirate was dissolved because two of his members renounced, Cirilo Antonio Rivarola
Cirilo Antonio Rivarola
Cirilo Antonio Rivarola Acosta was President of Paraguay March 1, 1870 - December 10, 1871. Before and during the War of the Triple Alliance, Rivarola was an opponent of dictator Francisco Solano López...
became the only ruler.
In that chaotic environment, an ambitious and conservative character emerged, Juan Bautista Gill
Juan Bautista Gill
Juan Bautista Gill García was President of Paraguay from November 25, 1874 to April 12, 1877.Juan Bautista Gill Garcia del Barrio was born in Asunción. In 1854 he traveled to Buenos Aires where he did his secondary education and medical training, which he failed to finish. His parents were Juan...
.
After the killing of his brother, Juan Silvano declared himself an opponent of J. B. Gill. Since then, he became a part of a conspiracy to murder of Gill. The assassination occurred in the middle of the street, April 12, 1877.
Exile and return
After the murder, Godoi lived long exile of eighteen-years in Buenos Aires. His enormous cultural background and well-known education, led him to meet most of the intellectuals of Argentina, like Aristóbulo Del Valle, Ramón Cárcano, Guido Spano, Mariano Pelliza and others.During the government of Colonel Escurra, in 1895, he returned to Paraguay. He took his library of twenty thousand volumes along with him. He also took many of his famous paintings. In addition to this he offered the country two books of his own, as a display of patriotism in spite of his long absence.
In 1901, he became general director of the National Library, Museum and Archives.
He represented Paraguay in 1910, the century of Argentina’s independence, in the America’s Congress.
His books
He wrote many books, and was a polemic journalist. In the writings he left, there is a very valuable legacy like:- “Monografías históricas” (1893)
- “Operaciones de Guerra del general José Eduvigis Díaz” (1897)
- “El concepto de patria” (1998)
- “El coronel Juan Antonio Escurra” (1903)
- “La muerte del Mariscal López” (1905)
- “El Barón de Río Branco” (1913)
- “El asalto a los acorazados” (1919)
Godoi died in January 1926, in Asunción. The mother of his children was Bienvenida Rivarola.