Santiago Buratovich Justinianovich

Jakov (Santiago) Buratović (Vrbanj, island of Hvar, Croatia 1846 - 1909,?) From Vrbanj on Hvar was a famous Croatian emigrant, who gained fame in Argentina. As a very young person he went to Egypt to build Suez Canal. After that he went to Argentina where he became famous. There he got a job with an Argentine Army engineering unit that was setting up telegraph lines in the interior of Argentina. In 1876 he was appointed to control the construction of an Argentine telegraph lines. He connected Buenos Aires and Rosario by telegraph wire. He also participated in the "desert War" in the Argentine South (Patagonia) which resulted in the extermination of the indigenous population. When installing the telegraph lines for the Buenos Aires - Rosario line, the workers often clashed with the Indian tribes. After one of those conflicts, he was left without workers, and, Buratovich was given the rank of Sargent Major on 10 Feb 1876.. He is remembered as a construction contractor from 1860 to 1865. He was also working on the construction of railway lines. He was often an adviser to Croats in choosing where to settle. Despite all his work, he died a poor man. He was buried in Buenos Aires. (Hrvati izvan Domovine)

A Signals unit of the Argentine Army, based in Bahia Blanca, was named after him in 1997, the "Batallón de Comunicaciones 181 Sargento Mayor Santiago Buratovich"

Mayor Buratovich is a town in the southwest corner Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, in the partido of Villarino Partido. It is located on National Route 3 (Argentina). The town is named after Croatian military engineer Santiago Buratovich (1846-1909) (born Jakov Buratović), who worked on the construction of the Suez Canal. He came to Buenos Aires in 1869, and worked as an engineer, including on telegraph line work, and in military struggles against Indians.[1] Buratovich advocated for the development of rail service to the area, and a station opened in 1912 where the town developed. In 1913, the station was renamed Mayor Buratovich for Buratovich's services to the country.[2] The rural area's primary economic activity is agricultural, focusing almost exclusively the production on onions for export. Migrant workers from northern Argentina and Bolivia now perform much of the farm labor.[3] The town is located approximated 58 km south of Médanos (the capital of Villarino Partido), and 92 km south of Bahía Blanca, the nearest major city.

Algunos datos sobre la vida del Sargento Mayor Ingeniero Santiago Buratovich (Jakov Buratović). Buratovich pisó suelo argentino, proveniente de Dalmacia, a la edad de 22 años en 1868. Recomendado por el Ingeniero De Leseps, llegó a nuestro país para realizar una serie de estudios de sondeos sobre los ríos de la Plata y Paraná. La recomendación tenía su peso por sus trabajos realizados en la construcción del Canal de Suez.

Deslumbrado por la tierra argentina y sus posibilidades de trabajo decidió quedarse en el país e inmediatamente comenzó a trabajar tanto en emprendimientos privados como públicos. En la ciudad de Rosario contrajo matrimonio y proyectó su puerto, la línea férrea del Sauce en San José y Montevideo y el Puerto del Sauce en la República Oriental del Uruguay. Bajo su dirección se proyectaron los primeros ferrocarriles de Santa Fe y se construyeron los primeros tranvías en Rosario, Paraná y San Nicolás de los Arroyos.

Buratovich se destacó en los tendidos telegráficos entre Rosario, Córdoba y Tucumán. En 1876 se lo nombra jefe constructor del telégrafo nacional, siendo ministro de Guerra el Dr. Adolfo Alsina. Su valioso aporte en la construcción de las líneas telegráficas le valió el grado de Mayor del Ejército y fue incorporado al Ejército del Sur.

En la Patagonia realizó la ardua tarea de comunicar a los fortines mediante el telégrafo. El programa trazado para los poblados de Azul, Carhué y Guaminí se completaron sin inconvenientes pero, durante el tendido de la línea entre Puán y Bahía Blanca, sufre los primeros ataques de los malones. De allí en más todos sus trabajos por el Río Negro, desde Carmen de Patagones hasta Conrado Villegas, siempre fueron atacado por bandidos o tribus de la zona. Una vez finalizada la Campaña del Desierto por el general Roca, Buratovich se retira para trabajar en su estancia.

En 1908, mientras se construía la línea de Carmen de Patagones por la empresa del Ferrocarril Pacífico, reservó un lote de 1500 ha. para la construcción de un pueblo al cual dotaría de una estación. Si bien logró trazar las divisiones del futuro pueblo, no pudo ver su obra ya que falleció el 1 de agosto de 1909. No obstante su hijo Santiago cumplió con la promesa y se remataron las tierras, dando paso a una localidad del partido de Villariños, Provincia de Buenos Aires: Mayor Buratovich

Jakov (Santiago) Buratović (Vrbanj, otok Hvar, Hrvatska 1846. - 1909., ?) iz Vrbanja na Hvaru je bio poznati hrvatski iseljenik, koji je slavu stekao u Argentini. Kao vrlo mlada osoba je otišao u Egipat graditi Sueski kanal. Nakon toga je otišao u Argentinu, gdje stječe slavu. Ondje je dobio posao u inženjerskoj tvrtci argentinske vojske koja je postavljala telegrafske linije, gdje se istakao trasiranjem telegrafskih linija po unutarnjosti Argentine. Godine 1876. imenovan je čelnim čovjekom za izgradnju argentinskog telegrafa. U argentinsku je povijest ušao kao stručnjak koji je telegrafskom žicom spojio Buenos Aires i Rosario. Sudjelovao je i u borbama oko osvajanja argentinskog juga. Među ostalim, pri postavljanju žica za brzojavnu službu na dionici Buernos Aires - Rosario, sukobljavao se s indijanskim plemenima. Pri jednom je takvom sukobu ostao bez radnika, i posao je dobio vojni karakter, a sukladno svemu tome, Buratović je dobio čin majora. Pod imenom "Mayor Buratovich" ulazi u argentinsku povijest. Spominje se kao građevinski poduzetnik već od 1860.-1865. godine. Radio je i na izgradnji željeznica. Često je bio i savjetnik Hrvatima pri odabiru mjesta gdje će se naseliti. Uza sav rad, umro je kao siromah. Pokopan je u Buenos Airesu.