The Maltese historian Mark Camilleri has published a new biography of the remarkable Juan Bautista Azopardo - Revolutionary, corsair and creator of the Argentinian navy.
Juan Bautista Azopardo (1772 – 1848) was born in Senglea, but as a teenager, he grew up in Toulon, France, learning shipwrightery and the art of naval warfare. He fought in the French Revolution on the side of the revolutionaries and was promoted to the rank of officer and given French citizenship.
He opted to continue his privateering career with the legendary French corsair Hipólito Mordeille until he ended up in Buenos Aires fighting alongside the locals against a British invasion. Victorious and successful, he was promoted again and given a new home country.
A Francophile and a republican, Azopardo supported Argentina’s May Revolution and, being close to the military’s top brass, convinced his superiors to hand him the responsibility for building Argentina’s first-ever navy. The end result was catastrophic for Azopardo, but his name remains embedded in Argentina’s hall of heroes.
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