Domingo Matheu

Domingo Bartolomé Francisco Matheu (4 August 1765 in Mataró, Spain – 28 March 1831 in Buenos Aires, Argentina) was a Spanish-born Argentine businessman and politician. He was a member of the Primera Junta, the first national government of modern Argentina, and the second president in the end of the Junta Grande from August to September 1811.

Biography

Domingo Bartolomé Francisco Matheu was born on August 4, 1765, in Mataró. His parents were Juan Pablo José Benito Matheu Ros and Antonia Chicola. He studied in the school "Pías" of Mataró, and then focused on math and naval studies. He became a pilot, and visited other Spanish territories as La Habana, Philippines and the Canary Islands. He moved to Buenos Aires in 1791 and opposed the trade regulations of the time. He sought both economic and political support among the local society.¹

Matheu joined the Regiment of Miñones during the British invasions of the River Plate. He was appointed lieutenant of the second company, under the command of Juan Larrea. On August 19, 1806, a few days after the recapture of Buenos Aires from the British, Matheu, Larrea and other neighbours requested authorization to create a new military unit, "Urbanos Voluntarios de Cataluña". Viceroy Santiago de Liniers approved it on September 26. As Larrea got ill, Matheu led this unit during the second British invasion in 1807. After the Battle of Miserere, Matheu and his forces withdrew to downtown Buenos Aires and fought in the buildings of the city. He was awarded by a Real Order in January 1809 for his role in the defense of Buenos Aires.²

The Peninsular War in Spain, along with the capture of the king Ferdinand VII and the fall of the Junta of Seville, escalated political disputes in Buenos Aires that led to the May Revolution. Several criollos thought that the viceroy , appointed by the fallen Junta, did not have legitimacy, and requested an to discuss it. Azcuénaga attended it, and voted for the creation of a with deputies from all the provinces, with the Cabildo ruling in the interregnum. However, the majority agreed with the creation of a junta, but with another junta of people from Buenos ruling in the meantime. The viceroy tried to stay in government as president of the Junta, which was resisted by the criollos. The reasons of Matheu's inclusion in the Junta are unclear, as with all its members. A common accepted theory considers it to be a balance between , , the military and the clergy.