GOMENSORO, TOMÁS XAVIER DE

Argentine priest and supporter of Uruguayan independence; b. Buenos Aires, Dec. 20, 1770; d. there, April 2, 1841. He studied at the Real Colegio de San Carlos, was ordained to the priesthood in 1799, and in 1803 was appointed vicar of Santo Domingo de Soriano, in the Banda Oriental. Having taken part in the Soriano uprising known as Grito de Asencio on Feb. 28, 1811, Gomensoro was persecuted and finally replaced in his own church. He moved to Buenos Aires and engaged in agriculture and cattle raising near Rosario. He was appointed priest of Canelones in 1814, and remained there for nine years. Recognized as a "worthy man by reason of his distinguished accomplishments and great learning," in 1824, he was appointed acting rector of the Colegio de Estudios Eclesiásticos. He was also professor at the university founded by Rivadavia. With his brother Loreto, delegate of the revolutionary government, Gomensoro worked in Buenos Aires with great zeal for the revolutionary cause that led to the independence of the Republic of Uruguay in 1825. He served in the Argentine Congress in 1825, voted for Rivadavia for president of the United Provinces, and in 1826 was appointed pastor of the San Ignacio church in Buenos Aires. He was acting pastor of the cathedral of the same city and was appointed honorary canon in 1840.

Bibliography: j. gomensoro, "El canónigo Tomás Xavier de Gomensoro," Revista Nacional 30 (Montevideo 1945) 257–281.

[a. d. gonzÁlez]