JAR: The Funeral of Colonel Artemio Gramajo

Roca, Heartbroken, Bids Farewell to Gramajo

Photograph depicting General Julio Argentino Roca, visibly moved and holding a handkerchief in his right hand, at the Recoleta Cemetery on the day of the funeral of his aide-de-camp and friend, Colonel Artemio Gramajo, on 12 January 1914.

That day, many were surprised when Roca asked to say a few words in farewell to his friend, as he was not a gifted speaker and disliked public speaking. Never before had the general been seen crying in public as he did that day. With a trembling voice, Roca said: “For me, carrying the mortal remains of Colonel Artemio Gramajo is like bringing forward my own funeral.” Only nine months later, Roca himself would die, and since then, they have lain buried in nearby mausoleums within Recoleta Cemetery.

Roca and Gramajo first met in 1869, when the Tucumán-born Roca was appointed commander of the 7th Regiment, stationed in the province of Tucumán, while Gramajo served as his aide. From that moment on, Roca and Gramajo were together in every military campaign and significant event in the following years: the battles of Ñaembé and Santa Rosa; Gramajo served as Roca’s aide-de-camp when the latter became Minister of War in 1878 and accompanied him throughout the Conquest of the Desert. Gramajo would continue in the same role during Roca’s first presidency and travelled with him on all his international visits.

Gramajo’s death deepened the melancholic emotional state that engulfed the former president during his final year, as reflected in letters he sent to his friend Eduardo Wilde in mid-1913, where Roca wrote: “What has become of my life? I do, my dear doctor, what you do: live among the ashes of our dead things, without the aid of an absorbing passion or that intense vanity that drives some old men, who live and die content with themselves and whom death surprises in that unconscious state of beatitude. Such mystery! To you, who are a profound analyst of the human soul and a great philosopher, I can pose the question that mankind has been asking since the dawn of humanity: What is life?” He concluded the letter by writing: “It is hard to guess what tomorrow may bring. Whatever it is, it will be. Tonight, I am going to ‘La Larga’, to sink into the silence and solitude of the pampas. Lucky you, who can create a pampa at your desk.”

In another letter to Wilde from the same year, Roca wrote: “The years go by, destroying everything in their path. Fortunately, they haven’t completely worn me down. For better or worse, I am still managing to stay on my feet. For how long? Only God knows.”