Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ARGENTINA'S GREATEST
INDUSTRIALIST:
TORCUATO DI TELLA
A
rgentina's economic growth unleashed a remarkable spirit of
entrepreneurial opportunism among several generations of land-
owners and manufacturers. Italian-born Torcuato Di Tella (1892-1948)
immigrated to Argentina with his parents in 1895. At 18 years of age, Di
Tella seized upon a new market opened up by a health ordinance banning
the hand-kneading of bread dough. He began the manufacture of a dough
mixing machine to be used in bakeries throughout Buenos Aires. Next, Di
Tella capitalized on the expanding petroleum industry by manufacturing
gasoline pumps and storage tanks, signing contracts with YPF as well as
with the Shell company. Financial backing for his metallurgical company
came from several banks, especially from German financiers.
In the 1930s, Di Tella's company, S.I.A.M., constructed a new factory
in the Buenos Aires industrial suburb of Avellaneda, employing hun-
dreds of skilled Italian workers. They began producing refrigerators,
washing machines, and electrical appliances. By 1940, he had manufac-
turing and sales subsidiaries in Brazil, Uruguay, and Chile. Though not
overtly involved in politics, Di Tella allowed his antifascist sentiments
to show when he commented on the arrest of Colonel Juan Perón
in October 1945: “The democratic struggle of our people has begun
and will continue until the last vestige of fascism has been eliminated.”
The military government came to an end, but Perón never forgave
Di Tella for his precipitous remarks. Later, during Perón's presidency,
S.I.A.M. encountered difficulty in getting import licenses and govern-
ment contracts.
Following Di Tella's death, his metallurgical and engineering company
expanded into electric fans, power station generators, and automobiles.
The first Di Tella 1500 sedan came off the assembly line in 1960. It was
to be the only Argentine automobile competing against domestically
assembled foreign models. Taxi drivers particularly favored their spa-
cious interiors and drove many customers along the broad boulevards,
invariably playing tango music on the radio.
Source:
Quotation from Cochran, Thomas C., and Ruben E. Reina.
Capitalism in Argentine Culture: A Study of Torcuato Di Tella and S.I.A.M.
(Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1962), p. 165.
