José Hernández

José Rafael Hernández was born on November 10, 1834, on a cattle ranch in San Martín near Buenos Aires. Growing up among gauchos on the frontier pampas, he became an expert horseman, soldier, and fiery journalist, editing newspapers in Paraná, Corrientes, and Buenos Aires defending federalism.

In 1872, Hernández published his masterpiece El Gaucho Martín Fierro, followed by La Vuelta de Martín Fierro (1879). Written in authentic rural rhyming octosyllables, the epic follows an impoverished gaucho forcibly conscripted into frontier outpost service who turns outlaw. Leopoldo Lugones and Jorge Luis Borges acclaimed it as the foundational epic of Argentine national identity. On his birthday, November 10, Argentina celebrates National Tradition Day.