Cané, Miguel (1851–1905)

The Argentine politician and writer Miguel Cané was born in Montevideo on 27 January 1851. His father, a relatively important writer and journalist, had been exiled to Uruguay because of his opposition to the Argentine dictator Juan Manuel de Rosas. When Rosas was defeated in the Battle of Caseros (1852) against the exiled sons of Argentina (a group that included Miguel Cané), the exiles were automatically recognized as Argentine citizens. Miguel settled in Buenos Aires, where he pursued studies that culminated in a law degree. Law was not his principal occupation, however; he divided his time between politics (including diplomacy) and literature. As a very young man, he joined the Autonomist Party and was elected provincial deputy and national deputy for the province of Buenos Aires. He devoted himself to diplomacy during the 1880s and part of the 1890s, and represented Argentina in Colombia, Venezuela, Germany, Austria, Spain, and France. After his return to Argentina he served briefly as mayor of Buenos Aires (1892–1893), minister of foreign relations, and finally as national senator. During his later years he was dean of the recently formed philosophy department (1901–1904) at the University of Buenos Aires, where he strongly promoted studies in the humanities.

As a member of the ruling party (National Autonomist Party) Cané maintained unorthodox opinions and always supported the leadership of his dear friend Carlos Pellegrini. As such, he was a liberal conservative concerned about the modernization of Argentina. His political and social ideas embodied the contradictions that were typical of his times. This was his opinion, for example, of the role he thought the Jockey Club should play: "The Jockey Club of Buenos Aires will not be, and cannot ever be, an imitation of its counterparts in Paris or Vienna, a closed and narrow circle, a caste-based clique, in which an accident of birth, and at times an accident of fortune, takes the place of the entire human condition." He added that it should be "a cross-section of society, vast and open, that includes and must include all educated and honorable men" (1897). His intention was clear: to create a republican elite, one that was open to social mobility but at the same time subject to a worldly routine of "aristocratic" roots.

Cané's most lasting contributions were in the field of literature. His output was huge and fragmentary; his best-known works include En Viaje (Traveling; 1882), Prosa Ligera (Light Prose; 1900), and a translation of Shakespeare's Henry IV. However, his highest achievement was undoubtedly the publication of Juvenilia (1884), a well-written and refreshing portrait of student life that remained a favorite of Argentine students.

See alsoArgentina, Political Parties: National Autonomist Party (PAN); Jockey Club; Literature: Spanish America; Pellegrini, Carlos; Rosas, Juan Manuel de; Uruguay: Before 1900.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Hayes, Ricardo Saenz. Miguel Cané y su Tiempo (1851–1905). Buenos Aires: G. Kraft, 1955.

Terán, Oscar. Vida intelectual en el Buenos Aires fin-de-siglo (1880–1910). Buenos Aires: Fondo de Cultura Economica, 2000.

                                          Ezequiel Gallo