José Batlle y Ordóñez

Batlle was born on May 23, 1856 in Montevideo to Lorenzo Batlle y Grau and Amalia Ordoñez.[3] Batlle’s grandfather, José Batlle y Carreó, had arrived in Montevideo on his own ship with Batlle’s grandmother from Sitjes, a town near Barcelona, and built a flour mill which won a contract to provision the Royal Spanish Navy in Montevideo. Batlle’s grandfather was loyal to the Spanish crown through both the British invasions of the River Plate and the first and second attempts to secure Uruguayan independence from Spain led by José Gervasio Artigas, and subsequently returned to Spain in 1814, and the rest of the Batlle family followed in 1818. Batlle’s grandmother died in Sitjes in 1823, and his grandfather subsequently returned to Montevideo in 1833 to reopen the flour mill. Batlle’s father Lorenzo had been born in Uruguay in 1810, and returned the Montevideo three years before the rest of the family in 1830, after an extensive education in France and Spain. Batlle’s father quickly joined and became prominent within the Colorados, and was involved in the Uruguayan Civil War, notably personally escorting Fructuoso Rivera to exile in Brazil in 1847. Lorenzo Batlle married Batlle’s mother, the daughter of another Colorado guerrilla, during the Uruguayan Civil War.

A photo of Batlle’s father, Lorenzo Batlle y Grau, taken some time before 1888.

The Batlle family were prohombres (prominent figures) within the Colorado Party, with five of Batlle’s relatives serving as president. Batlle’s father Lorenzo had served as Minister of War during the Great Siege of Montevideo, and was elected President of Uruguay in 1868 when Batlle was 12 years old. Batlle's children César, Rafael and Lorenzo were actively engaged in politics, with César and Lorenzo serving in . He was also the uncle of another Uruguayan President, Luis Batlle Berres and the great-uncle of President Jorge Batlle, and his uncle-in-law Duncan Stewart served as acting president for three weeks in 1894.

After attending school at an English school in Montevideo, Batlle studied at the University of the Republic.[4] At university, he became involved in the discussions and debates between the ‘idealists’ and ‘positivists’. Led by Prudencio Váquez y Vega, Batlle was a prominent member of the idealists. Batlle’s political ideology was influenced by the work of philosopher Heinrich Ahrens, whose work was introduced to Batlle by Váquez y Vega. In 1880, a 24-year-old Batlle convinced his father to let him study for a year in Paris, where he took a course in English and sat in on philosophy lectures before returning home when money ran out.

Batlle was a prominent journalist, and founded El Día newspaper in 1886. Batlle used his newspaper as a political platform for criticizing his opponents and promoting his reformist agenda.

He served as the President of the Senate of Uruguay from 1899 to 1900, and in 1903.[1]

In early 1920 Batlle killed Washington Beltrán Barbat, a National Party deputy, in a formal duel that stemmed from vitriolic editorials published in Batlle's 'El Día' newspaper and Beltrán's 'El País'.[7] His son Washington Beltrán would become President of Uruguay. He also served twice as Chairman of the National Council of Administration (1921-1923, 1927-1928).

Batlle is commonly explained as being “ahead of his times.” He was more than ahead of his times. Batlle created his times. His success reminds us that a man’s ideals can lead other men.

— Milton I. Vanger, José Batlle y Ordoñez of Uruguay: The Creator of His Times 1902 – 1907, page 274

Monument of Batlle in Montevideo

The first implementation of the colegiado system which Batlle had championed, the National Council of Administration, was overthrown in a coup by president Gabriel Terra in 1933 and abolished by the third Constitution of Uruguay in 1934, a little over four years after Batlle’s death. The idea of the colegiado system remained influential, however, and was reintroduced with the 1952 Constitution of Uruguay in the form of the National Council of Government (Uruguay). The National Council of Government fully abolished the presidency, making it closer to Batlle’s desired system, but was itself abolished for a second time and the presidency re-established by the 1967 constitution.

A public park and a neighborhood in Montevideo are named after him.

There is also a town in Lavalleja Department named after him.

• List of political families

Wikimedia Commons has media related to José Batlle y Ordóñez.

• "Batllism".
• "Batlle y Ordoñez and the Modern State". 1990.
• Henderson, James D.; Henderson, Alexander C.; Delpar, Helen; Brungardt, Maurice Philip; Weldon, Richard N. (2000). Reforms in the era of Battlism. ISBN 9781563247446.