Leandro Nicéforo Alem was born in
Buenos Aires, the son of Tomasa Ponce, a woman of indigenous ancestry and Leandro Antonio Alén, a grocer (
pulpero) whose father was an immigrant from
Galicia. Alén became a prominent member of
Governor of Buenos Aires Province Juan Manuel de Rosas'
political police, the
Mazorca. Rosas dismissed him from the Mazorca in 1847 after a series of nervous brekdowns. Alén was executed by firing squad in 1853 in Buenos Aires by the
Unitarians, in the turmoil that followed the
battle of Caseros. The young Leandro changed his surname from Alén to Alem to mitigate associations with him. In 1859, being only 18 years old, Alem took part in the battles of
Cepeda and
Pavón, and in 1865, he joined the
war against Paraguay. After this, he returned to Buenos Aires to finish his law studies. He had democratic, anti-authoritarian ideas, and in 1868, he joined
Adolfo Alsina's Autonomist Party, where he showed a skill for incisive
rhetorics in public debates. Alem was elected
diputado (representative) at the provincial legislature of
Buenos Aires in 1871. In 1874, he went on to become National Representative, and then Senator. He opposed the
federalization of the city of Buenos Aires, required by the
Constitution. When the bill was passed by the legislature, Alem resigned his seat and became the intellectual leader of a group of discontents that sought to produce changes in Argentine politics. In 1877, he and his friend
Aristóbulo del Valle founded the Republican Party. In 1889, Argentina was going through a deep political and economic crisis, worsened by the corruption and abuse of power of President
Miguel Juárez Celman. In this context, Alem organized the
Civic Union of the Youth, (from which the prominent
Radical Civic Union would emerge). In July 1890, Alem was one of the leaders of the
Revolución del Parque revolt that forced Juárez Celman to resign. When Vice-President
Carlos Pellegrini took charge in his stead, Alem renewed his opposition, lending support to uprisings against the national government in the provinces. After a failed
uprising in 1893, Alem saw many of his supporters leave him. Feeling disappointed and betrayed, he committed suicide on 1 July 1896 by shooting himself in his right temple inside a carriage. His remains are buried in the Memorial to the Fallen in the 1890 Revolution, in the
La Recoleta Cemetery of Buenos Aires. == Legacy ==