User:Veronika Ainhoa/Bartolomé Tellarini

Bartolo Marcelino Tellarini (Buenos Aires, June 18, 1854 - Bahía Blanca, July 8, 1926), better known as Bartolomé Tellarini, was a merchant and politician who actively participated in the early stages and growth of the city of Bahía Blanca.

He mainly dedicated himself to the wool trade and other products under his firm Bartolomé Tellarini e hijos, founded in 1886, being one of the oldest and most historical firms in Bahía Blanca. For his business, he had the El Mirador warehouse built. In the political sphere, he served as municipal councilor on several occasions.

Biography
Bartolomé Tellarini was born in the City of Buenos Aires, Argentina, on June 18, 1854. His parents were Francisco Tellarini and Magdalena Bianchi, Italian immigrants from Genoa.

He began working at the age of 16 and gradually became involved in the wool business. In 1880, he married Paula Arias in Buenos Aires.

In 1884, he moved to Bahía Blanca as a buyer for the firm of D. Fuhrmann & Company.

Two years later, in 1886, he founded his company Bartolomé Tellarini e hijos, and opened his own warehouse for wool, leather, fruits, and cereals, located on Parchappe Avenue, popularly known as El Mirador warehouse. It was called by this name because the building had a lookout tower from which the city could be observed. A railway siding reached the warehouse to allow the transfer of goods.

Since 1908, Tellarini included his three sons Bartolomé, Pedro, and Enrique Tellarini as partners in the business. In the 1909 season, the business saw a significant improvement in sales, selling 13,100 bales of wool (450kg each bale) in that year.

With the ability to delegate some of the work to his sons, Tellarini began to dedicate more time to expanding his ranching businesses. He acquired a 3,600-hectare property of alfalfa in the Villarino Partido, and another of 16,250 hectares in Río Negro dedicated to livestock and agriculture. He set up farms, forest nurseries, bird breeding facilities, vineyards, etc.

In addition to commerce, Tellarini took an active part in the public sphere. In the field of politics, he served as municipal councilor on several occasions, affiliated with the Radical Civic Union party.

In 1893, he was the first provisional Mayor of Bahía Blanca. He had been appointed by the revolutionary group that responded to Hipólito Yrigoyen and that had caused the downfall of Governor Julio A. Costa.

He was one of the founders in 1894 of the Rural Society of Bahía Blanca, of which he was president from its foundation until 1913. With this society, he began in 1906 the sale of lands that gave rise to the birth of the popular neighborhood of Villa Mitre, in reference to Bartolomé Mitre, whom he greatly admired.

Additionally, he was a member of the local board of the Bank of the Province of Buenos Aires.

In 1913, as a councilor, he presented an ordinance to regulate the fare for coach trips. Despite protests from the coachmen, who refused to provide service to the city on Sundays, they gradually abandoned their protest and in February of that same year, the coachmen tied up more than 50 cars awaiting the code 13 for the 55 thousand inhabitants of the city.

In June 1915, he participated with other friends in the construction of a Farman biplane owned by Victorio Deluchi, to which they fitted a 50 HP Gnome engine.

He passed away on July 8, 1926, in Bahía Blanca, Argentina. In the cemetery, his remains were placed in the vault of the Iraldi and Casanova families. The El Mirador warehouse still stands, now disused.