Fúrlong Cárdiff, Guillermo (1889–1974)

Guillermo Fúrlong Cárdiff (June 21, 1889–May 20, 1974) was a prolific Argentine Jesuit historian. His body of work is made up of more than eighty books and some 1,500 articles. He explored colonial religious history, with an emphasis on the work of the Society of Jesus, with the aim of demonstrating the civilizing influence of the Spanish Catholic colonization. Thus, he defended the position of Manuel Giménez Fernández related to the scholastic inspiration of the Latin American independence movements, underlining the influence of the theologian Francisco Suárez, in opposition to the argument that they were inspired by the enlightenment. His most widely published books include Los Jesuitas y la cultura rioplatense (1933; The Jesuits and the culture of the River Plate), Cartografía jesuítica del Río de la Plata (1936; Jesuit cartography of the River Plate), Entre los mocobíes de Santa Fe (1938; With the Mocovi in Santa Fe), Médicos argentinos durante la dominación española (1947; Argentine physicians during Spanish rule), Naturalistas argentinos durante la dominación hispánica (1948; Argentine naturalists during Spanish rule), Historia y bibliografía de las primeras imprentas rioplatenses (3 vols., 1953, 1955, 1960; History and bibliography of the first publishers of the River Plate region), Nacimiento y desarrollo de la filosofía en el Río de la Plata (1952; Origins and development of philosophy in the River Plate region, 1949), and Los jesuitas y la escisión del reino de las Indias (1960; The Jesuits and the secession of the Kingdom of the Indies).

Fúrlong Cárdiff studied in Spain and the United States, where he received his doctorate in philosophy in 1913 from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Upon his return to Argentina, he was a professor of history at the Colegio del Salvador (Academy of the Savior). Following a second period in Spain, during which he was ordained as a priest in 1924, he returned to Argentina to teach once again literature, history, and English at the same colegios. He was one of the founders of the Junta de Historia Eclesiástica Argentina (Society for the Study of Argentine Ecclesiastical History) in 1942 and of the Academia Nacional de Geografía (National Academy of Geography) in 1956. He was director of the Jesuit journal Estudios (Studies) from 1947 to 1952. Fúrlong Cárdiff's academic work received recognition when he was named a full member of the Academia Nacional de la Historia (National Academy of History) in 1939, and he was awarded various honorary doctorates.

See alsoCatholic Church: The Modern Period; Jesuits.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Boletín de la Academia Nacional de la Historia, vol. 48 (1975). Includes articles related to Guillermo Fúrlong Cárdiff and a complete bibliography.

Chiaramonte, José Carlos. La Ilustración en el Río de la Plata, Cultura eclesiástica y cultura laica durante el Virreinato, 2nd edition. Buenos Aires: Sudamericana, 2007.

Di Stefano, Roberto. "De la teología a la historia: Un siglo de lecturas retrospectivas del catolicismo argentino." Prohistoria 6 (2003): 173-201.

                                 Roberto Di Stefano