page_title: Academia Argentina de Letras
section_title: Founding
hierarchical_section_title: Academia Argentina de Letras / History / Founding
caption_attribution_description: English: Calixto Oyuela (1857 - 1935), an Argentine writer and poet. Español: Calixto Oyuela (1857 - 1935), un escritor y poeta argentino.
context_page_description: The Academia Argentina de Letras is the academy in charge of studying and prescribing the use of the Spanish language in Argentina. Since its establishment, on August 13, 1931, it has maintained ties with the Royal Spanish Academy and the other Spanish-language academies that are members of the Association of Spanish Language Academies. Since 1999, it has officially been a correspondent academy of the Royal Spanish Academy.
  It currently includes two dozen full members, chosen for having distinguished themselves in academic study related to language or literature. They make up the directing body of the academy, and they select honorary and correspondent academic members.
context_section_description: On August 13, 1931, the de facto president José Félix Uriburu decreed the creation of the Academia Argentina de Letras. The name change (from "la Lengua," meaning "the Language," to "Letras," meaning "Letters" or "Literature") acknowledged an additional emphasis on the distribution and promotion of Argentine literature in addition to the academy's interest in the Spanish language in the country. With this dual mission, the academy sought to define and strengthen the "spiritual physiognomy of the country," using narrative, lyrical, and above all theatrical work to develop a cultural model. Oyuela was installed as president of the body, whose other members were Enrique Banchs, Joaquín Castellanos, Atilio Chiappori, Juan Carlos Dávalos, Leopoldo Díaz, Juan Pablo Echagüe, Alfredo Ferrerira, Gustavo Franceschi, Manuel Gálvez, Leopoldo Herrera, Carlos Ibarguren, Arturo Marasso, Gustavo Martínez Zuviría, Clemente Ricci, and Juan Bautista Terán. The academy was given the role of "associate" of the Royal Spanish Academy. It had all the support that its previous incarnation had lacked; a room in the old National Library on México Street was reserved for the group's weekly meeting while then-senator Matías Sánchez Sorondo worked to acquire the Palacio Errázuriz to house the academy, as well as the National Academy of Fine Arts, the National Museum of Decorative Arts, and the National Cultural Commission. The acquisition was approved in January of 1937, although the transfer of the building to the academy was not effective until 1944.
caption: Calixto Oyuela, the founding president of the academy
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