Today, 19 January, marks the 174th anniversary of the death of José Esteban Echeverría, an influential Argentine writer and pioneer of the Romantic movement in Latin America. Born on 2 September 1805 in Buenos Aires, his legacy transcends the literary sphere, as he was also a key figure in shaping national political thought.

As a leading member of the Generation of ‘37, along with figures such as Juan Bautista Alberdi, Echeverría was part of a group of intellectuals who defended the importance of building solid political institutions as a basis for the development of a modern Argentina. His liberal ideology led him to emphasise the need to broaden access to education, convinced that this was a fundamental pillar for the consolidation of national sovereignty.

Echeverría introduced the ideas of Romanticism to the Río de la Plata, a movement that exalted freedom and individual feelings. Works such as Elvira and La novia del Plata (1832) inaugurated this literary current in the region, while El matadero (1871), published twenty years after his death, became a powerful critique of the authoritarianism and political violence of his time, marking a milestone in Latin American social literature.

Politically, his most emblematic contribution was the Dogma Socialista, a document that laid the foundations for a national project centred on the values of freedom, equality and progress. In it, Echeverría argued that education, democracy and respect for individual rights were indispensable elements for the country's development.

Although he died in exile in Montevideo on 19 January 1851, his influence continues to this day. Echeverría not only shaped Argentine literature, but also left a model of thought committed to the ideals of justice and freedom.