The Bordaberry family originated in the
French Basque Country region,
France. The Uruguayan family branch is descended from Jacques
Santiago Bordaberry Oyhamburu, who migrated from the
commune of
Pagolle to the rural area of the
Durazno Department in 1865. There he began to work as a shepherd of flocks of sheep until he managed to acquire a plot of land northwest of the village of
Carlos Reyles, which belonged to descendants of
Fructuoso Rivera. He founded the "Santa María" ranch and became a stockgrower. In 1900 he began importing
Hereford cattle from England. In 1879, Bordaberry married Isabel Elissondo, who was also of French-Basque descent. They had five children: Santiago, Isabel, Maclovia, María and
Domingo. In 1916 the family acquired the "El Paraíso" ranch, and in 1937 the first
artificial insemination of sheep in South America was carried out there.
Domingo Bordaberry managed the family ranch as a stockgrower, as well as a lawyer and politician. A member of the
Colorado Party, he belonged to the
ruralist faction, which initiated the Bordaberry family's long association with rural affairs. He was married to Elisa Arocena Folle, with whom he had four children between 1927 and 1931, Domingo,
Juan María, Luis Ignacio and Elisa. == References ==