Zorrilla de San Martin, Juan

1855 – He was born on the 28th day of December in Montevideo. His parents were natives of Spain and very devout Catholics; he maintained both loyalties throughout his life. He studied in the Colegio (grade school) of the Jesuit order in Santa Fé, Argentina, and the school of the Bayon Fathers in Montevideo.
   
1874 – He began writing nationalist and patriotic poetry and prose while in Santiago, and his first prose epic, Ituzaingó that commemorated a battle of that name, fought in 1828, which was vital to Uruguayan independence.
   
1877 – He received his law degree. The following year he returned to Montevideo and was appointed a justice of the peace, a post he held for 6 months. He founded and became the editor of El Bien Público, a proclerical newspaper, which he used partially as a base from which to attack the dictatorship of Máximo Santos.
   
1880 – He won the chair of general literature in the University of Montevideo by a concurso (competitive application), and he also became an instructor of natural law in the Liceo Universitario of the city.
   
1885 – He was removed by Santos from his teaching posts and harassed him; he fled to Buenos Aires and stayed until 1887 when Santos resigned.
   
1888 – He spent seven years working on Tabaré , an epic poem in three books. This major piece, published in Paris, relates the struggle for survival of the region's indigenous way of life. He served briefly in the Chamber of Deputies after being elected this year.
   
1891 – He was appointed minister plenipotentiary to Spain; while in Madrid he took an active part in the city's intellectual life and in the 400th anniversary of Columbus's discovery of the America.
   
1898 - He returned to Montevideo, resumed the editorship of El Bien Público, and won the chair of international and public law in the university.
    
1903 – He acted briefly as chief of the Office of Emission of Currency in the Banco de la República.
   
1910 – He published La epopeya de Artigas during the centennial of José Artigas's declaration of Uruguay independence.
    
1931 – On the 4th day of November he died in Montevideo.