Our Great Grandmother, Nicolasa Alegre Velazco de Pugliese was born in Argentina (probably in Buenos Aires) in 1853, the year after the battle of Caseros. She was the daughter of Pedro Alegre and Monica Velazco. She had at least 2 brothers; Eduardo and Enrique.
There are some uncertainties regarding her ancestry. In the first place, according to aunt Quita, Pedro Allegre was Neapolitan and his name had been “Castilianized” as it would originally have been Pietro Allegri.
It is probable, since the daughter of a Napolitan was bound to marry another Napolitan. Also, in several of the anecdotes in which she was featured, her interlocutors spoke in Italian and as Martin Fierro would have said “it wasn’t frequent that a “Criolla” of her times would have understood Italian”.
Neither do we know with certainty her social status. Her daughters, (our aunts) always spoke of her as a grand lady. The fact is that the manners, speech and culture of all her children, at least the seven I got to know, were those of high society.
Our great grandmother was short, chubby and dark skinned. She must have been pretty when she was young (she was 15 when she married our great grandfather), since her 10 daughters were. It is said that her family came to what is today Argentina with the “Northern Colonizing current” towards the end of the XVI century.
It is possible, because looking at her pictures and the features of some of her children, such as our grandfather or aunt Quita, one can identify some native features as is common amongst most old Criollo families. With only closing my eyes I can see her imposing oil portrait beside great grandfather’s one that presided in the dinning room of the old house on Pasaje San Mateo.
Our great grandmother was part of the “circle of Patrician ladies”, a group of women who were descendents of our independence figures. I can’t help but being thrilled by imagining what their conversations must have been like.
On the Velazco side, it is said that she was the great niece of Margarita Sanchez de Thompson, whose maiden name was Margarita Sanchez y Velazco. There is a Velazco (Juan?) whose suit is at the museum in Chascomus, who participated in the open Cabildo of May 22, 1810. And there is another Velazco’s uniform in the Buenos Aires museum. Marta Puig tells how as a young girl, when she visited the museum with the school, aunt Amelia would ask her to tell the teacher that the Velazco in the museum was her uncle. Another uniform belonging to that man ended up in aunt Amanda’s house, but unfortunately it got lost.
Apparently this individual fought against Rosas and may have been the protagonist of the following story recounted by Tia Amanda:
This relative had been condemned to be shot, his mother went to see Rosas to ask for a pardon, Rosas without dismissing her plea, grumbled, said to be busy and let time go by using different excuses. Nearly upon the hour of execution Rosas said he would pardon him, but that he had no paper to write on. Then the mother said: “write the order on the cuff of your shirt and I shall take it to the barracks”. So he did, and our relative was spared.
There was also a Colonel Jorge Velazco that fought in the war with Paraguay and had previously formed part of the war tribunal that sentenced the famous Colonel Barcala (a black man who had fought under General San Martin) to death. Another family name was Benitez, who is said to have been captain of the Mazorca. Despite having individuals on both sides of the political arena, the general family position was mostly anti-Rosas.
Our aunts used to say that Monica Velazco, their grandmother, had died young from a heart condition on account of Rosas. It seems that this woman liked peaches with a passion and in the summer afternoons when she heard “peaches, peaches”, she would open the door to get some. It seems that on occasion instead of a basket full of peaches, she was confronted with Mazorca members carrying a basket full of heads. This is what brought about her heart condition.
Other relatives of our great grandmother were the Audiffreds. I’m not sure of the relation, but my great grandmother Monica Audiffred, mother of my grandmother Maria Teresa Iriondo, was Nicolasa’s cousin. Maria Audiffred (small Maria), uncle Nicolas’ wife, was also Nicolasa’s niece. Both my grandmother and small Maria lived in the great grandparents’ house. It would be nice if some of our family members took an interest in this “Criollo” branch of the family and did a little more research.
No one was left with feelings of indifference towards our great grandmother; her children adored her. On the other hand, her nieces and grandchildren feared her. Apparently she was very strict and ran her house in a military fashion. No one dared argue with her. There are many anecdotes about her character:
When they still lived in Atalaya, uncle Antonio, that at the time was seven or eight, disappeared. Desperate, the great grandparents looked for him everywhere without finding him. In an attempt to lift her spirits, great grandfather took her out to a circus that had just arrived in town. When the show started, the first thing our great grandparents saw, was Antonio dressed as a harlequin doing summersaults. Our great grandmother stormed into the arena and Antonio’s circus career was cut short when his mother took him home while simultaneously giving him a good beating.
On another occasion our great grandmother decided to go to the theatre with two of her daughters, she sent my grandfather Tancredo to purchase the tickets. It was summer and my grandfather left, all dressed up and wearing a “rancho” hat. Time was passing by and my grandfather was nowhere to be seen. As the time of the show was getting closer, great grandmother decided to go to the theatre to find our what was going on. When she arrived, she found Tancredo happily chatting with some friends he had met at the theatre. She was so infuriated that she took the hat by the rim and Tancredo ended up wearing it as a necklace.
At the launch of one of great grandfather’s new ships, the family had a gala dinner with many guests. At some point someone spilled a glass of wine on the table cloth. Aunt Amanda who was very young at the time, wet her fingers in the wine yelling “Alegria” (happiness). A swift slap across the face ended Amanda’s happiness.
Another surprising feature of our great grandmother is that despite being from a “Criollo” family, she hated mate. She considered it to be a habit of bums and did not allow its consumption in her presence.
From what I have heard, I am under the impression that she was in charge, nearly exclusively, of her children’s education. It was an education the concerned itself more with manners and virtue, than with the realities of life. When talking to any of her children one could think that they had fallen from a position of privilege that was theirs by right due to some catastrophe rather than because their father had become blind and old and none of them had been capable of taking on their father’s business. In a family blessed with musical gifts I never heard that she had any. Non the less there is no doubt that she encouraged her children to practice music.
What is also remarkable is that she did not demand that her children study. They were all very intelligent and cultivated but with the exception of uncle Orestes that took some courses in medicine and law, I don’t think any of the others ever set foot in a University.
They all finished high school and their they stopped, which is quite surprising in a country where for a long time it has been considered normal for young men from good families to complete their university studies.
She actively intervened in the marriages of her children encouraging or discouraging different couples. As far as I know she was only opposed to the marriage of my grandparents and aunt Amanda’s that were precisely the only two marriages that had problems. In the case of my grandparents because she felt they had similar temperaments and they would end up fighting. In the case of Aunt Amanda, because she felt that Pedro Puig was too bohemian. That my grandfather were to openly antagonize her and do what he wanted does not surprise me because he too had a temperament that lifted the tiles of the ground. But aunt Amanda that was so sweet and gentile, does surprise me.
Great grandmother was very devout and there was always a priest in the house. With the exception of uncle Orestes that was a consummate atheist, the children I knew were all practicing Catholics.
When uncle Orestes became an Atheist and a free thinker, great grandmother was very worried and asked the priest on duty to have a chat with him. Uncle Orestes who also had his temper, expeditiously and in no uncertain terms quickly got rid of the priest. Their ended all attempts to get him back into the sanctity of the church.
I think great grandmother had immense influence on the family. She was the “Magna Mater” in the strictest sense of the word; queen, protector, loving, fearsome, likeable. . . . all in one person.
The lives of her children were marked by her presence, directly or indirectly, the ones of her grandchildren and all the way down to the present generation. I don’t think it is a positive influence, but seldom does one person influence so many others for so long.
She died in Buenos Aires, I don’t know in what year. Perhaps because they were mourning, her children did not speak of her death.