Argentine poet and political figure, 1807-48
Fishburn and Hughes: "An Argentine writer, poet and journalist who joined the cause of the Unitarians. In 1829, under the Federalist dictatorship of Rosas, he was forced to flee together with other notable Unitarians to Montevideo, where he worked actively to bring down the Buenos Aires government. He founded the newspaper Comercio del Plata, which became the most powerful organ of the anti-Rosas party, and began writing a new history of Argentina. Varela moved from youthful poetry to literary criticism. He particularly admired the Neo-classical writers, but also included in his newspaper extracts from Dumas and Hugo, and encouraged the development of gaucho poetry. He was stabbed to death, probably at the instigation of Rosas." (206)