National heroes of Paraguay

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Eugenio Alejandrino Garay Argaña (1875-1937) was a Paraguayan general.

He fought in the Chaco War (1932-1935) between Paraguay and Bolivia.

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Paraguay, 10 guaranies, 1975.  General Garay.




Paraguay, 10 guaranies, 1978.  General Garay.




Paraguay, 10 guaranies, 1990.  General Garay.

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Marshal José Félix Estigarribia Insaurralde (1888-1940).

He was a decorated Paraguayan war hero and President of Paraguay for the Liberal party.

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Paraguay, 50 guaranies, 1975.  Marshal José Félix Estigarribia.




Paraguay, 50 guaranies, 1980.  Marshal José Félix Estigarribia.

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Paraguay, 50 guaranies, 1998.  Marshal José Félix Estigarribia.

Paraguay tends to issue amended versions of the same design every few years.

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José Eduvigis Díaz Vera (1833-1867) was a celebrated Paraguayan general. Díaz was born in the town of Cerro Verá east of Pirayú in the department of Paraguarí. In 1852 he joined the militia and later led Battalion 40 of the police. He became the police chief in Asunción and first distinguished himself on raids across the Río Paraná at Corrientes in the spring of 1866 during the Paraguayan War. Díaz was the hero of the September 22, 1866 battle of Curupaity, leading a humiliating rout of the allied forces.

Barely four months later, however, on 26 Jan. 1867, a Brazilian shell exploded over Gen Diaz's canoe while he was fishing in the River Paraguay, outside the camp at Curupayti. President Francisco Solano López visited the wounded Diaz every day. Diaz's leg was amputated by doctors, but he still died on 7 Feb. 1867. In addition to the battle of Curupaity, Díaz participated in the battles of Corrales, Estero Bellaco, and Tuyutí (in which he commanded Paraguay against the combined allied forces), Boquerón, and Sauce.

After his death, his coffin was brought to Asunción, where the town accompanied it to its resting place in the Recoleta neighborhood. In 1939, Díaz's remains were deposited in an urn in the Pantheon of Heroes, along with the remains of Carlos Antonio López.

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Paraguay, 100 guaranies, 1996.  José E. Díaz.

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Juan Bernardino Caballero de Añasco y Melgarejo (1839-1912, Asunción) was the President of Paraguay from 1881 until 1886 and founder of the Colorado Party.

A descendant from Spanish nobility, he was the son of Jose Ramón Caballero de Anazco (a descendant from Túpac Huallpa through Inca Garcilaso de la Vega) and his wife Melchora Inés Melgarejo y Genés. Married twice, to María de la Concepción Díaz de Bedoya and to Julia Álvarez, without issue. From the first marriage he had two children, Ramon Caballero de Bedoya, married to Martha Cahen, and had issue, and Melchora Caballero de Bedoya, married to her distant cousin Carlos Francisco Saguier Pereira, and had issue. Outside of his marriages he had a further 90 children, all formally recognized by him, and thus today he has myriad descendants.

Born in Ybycuí, he joined the Paraguayan Army while still young and fought in the Paraguayan War. During the war, he became the assistant of President Francisco Solano López, in Humaitá and remaining loyal, rose through the ranks. He became an increasingly important leader of rearguard actions, eventually becoming a General.

After the death of Juan Bautista Gill in 1877, he helped ensure his friend Cándido Bareiro gained the presidency. Soon after Barreiro's death he organised a coup and took the presidency for himself, during which period he privatised much of the land in Paraguay to raise money.

Caballero rigged the 1886 election to ensure the victory Patricio Escobar, his favoured candidate. In response, his opponents founded the Liberal Party and he then founded the Colorado Party. Out of office, Caballero maintained a large degree of control as he remained commander of the army. His favoured candidates controlled the country until 1894, when Juan Bautista Eguzquiza overthrew Juan Gualberto González. Caballero helped to organise another coup in 1902, putting Juan Antonio Escurra in power, but after Escurra's overthrow by the Argentine Army, the Liberals took power.

The Paraguayan town of General Bernadino Caballero is named after him.

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 Paraguay, 500 guaranies, 1998.  General Bernardino Caballero.

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Francisco Solano López Carrillo (1827-1870) was President of Paraguay from 1862 until his death in 1870. He was the eldest son of Juana Pabla Carrillo and the president Carlos Antonio López, who had left his son a prosperous nation.

Francisco Solano López is one of the most controversial figures in Latin American history, specially because of the Paraguayan War, known in the Plate Basin as "Guerra de la Triple Alianza". For some historians and writers, his ambitions were the main reason for the outbreak of the war, while for others he was a fierce champion of the independence of South American nations against foreign rule and interests. He resisted until the very end and was killed in action during the Battle of Cerro Corá, which marked the end of the war.

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Paraguay, 1000 guaranies, 2008.  Marshal Francisco Solano López.

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See also:

1] Coin designs that were taken from banknotes.

2] Coinage of Paraguay since 1975.

3] Guatemalan and Paraguayan variations.

4] Original 1974 sketches of the 1975 Paraguayan coin series.

5] Paraguay: floral set of 1944 to 1951.

6] Paraguay: from commemorative to circulation coin and back again.