O'Gorman, Camila (1828–1848)

Camila O'Gorman (b. 1828; d. 18 August 1848), a national heroine. Born to an aristocratic Rosista family of Buenos Aires, Camila lived in a society dominated by the rules of the dictatorial regime of General Juan Manuel de Rosas, who later ordered her execution in the name of "law and order." At nineteen, she fell in love with Uladislao Gutiérrez, a young and attractive priest from Tucumán, then serving her Parish of the Virgen del Socorro. After some hesitation and knowing that they were defying the moral and civil codes of their time, they decided to elope on 12 December 1847, thus confronting family, political authorities, and the Catholic Church. Their action threatened to provoke a major scandal that had the potential of tearing apart the Rosas regime. Using assumed names, the couple ran away to San Fernando in order to reach Goya, Corrientes province, where they settled and opened an elementary school, thus becoming part of that community. They were discovered by chance and were taken to Buenos Aires in August 1848.

While they were in jail in Santos Lugares, the Rosas government, in compliance with the request of Camila's father, ordered their immediate execution. The tragic end of these young lovers was made even more dramatic by the fact that, according to most accounts, Camila was pregnant. This government action transformed a much-debated social transgression into one of the major crimes of Argentine history. Much has been written about the fatal journey of these lovers. Among the most interesting accounts in recent times are Una sombra donde sueña Camila O'Gorman (A Shadow Where Camila O'Gorman Dreams, 1973), a novel by the Argentine poet Enrique Molina, and the film Camila (1984), directed by Argentine filmmaker María Luisa Bemberg.

See alsoBemberg, María Luisa; Rosas, Juan Manuel de.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Leonor Calvera, Camila O'Gorman, o, El amor y el poder (1986).

Additional Bibliography

Batticuore, Graciela. Mujeres argentinas: El lado femenino de nuestra historia. Buenos Aires: Alfaguara, 1998.

Luna, Félix. Camila O'Gorman. Buenos Aires: Planeta, 2001.

                           Magdalena GarcÍa Pinto