Juan José Castelli

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Juan José Castelli (July 19, 1764 – October 12, 1812) was an Argentine politician who participated in the 1810 May Revolution leading to Argentine independence.

Castelli was born in Buenos Aires and attended the Colegio Real de San Carlos and the Colegio Monserrat in the city of Córdoba. He later became a lawyer in the University of Charcas. He was a cousin of Manuel Belgrano who got him a position in the public administration in the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata.

Along with his cousin, Nicolás Rodriguez Peña and Hipólito Vieytes, Castelli was one of the first revolutionaries that would take control of the government. He was commanded to address viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros and ask him to resign. During the sessions in the Cabildo, he strongly defended the patriotic cause with a long and brilliant speech on May 22, 1810. Since then, people have acknowledged him as the Speaker of the Revolution.

Castelli was named vocal in the First Junta and was sent to Córdoba to end Santiago de Liniers's counter-revolution. He succeeded and ordered the execution of Liniers and his supporters. Later, he commanded the establishment of a revolutionary government in Alto Perú (today's Bolivia) with the aim of setting the indigenous peoples and African slaves free.

In 1811, Castelli signed a truce with the Spanish in Alto Perú but they betrayed him and caught the Northern Army unprepared. As a result, the Argentines suffered a big loss in the Battle of Huaqui on June 20, 1811. When Castelli returned to Buenos Aires, the First Triumvirate imprisoned him for the undesired outcome of the battle.

Ironically, the 'Speaker of the Revolution' died of cancer of the tongue on October 12, 1812.