From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Jose Gervasio Artigas (June 19 1764 - September 23 1850) was a national hero of Uruguay.
Artigas was born in Montevideo in the Spanish colony of Banda Oriental which later become the republic of Uruguay.
He was a smuggler in his youth, and then became a soldier within the Spanish army. Later he become the leader of the resistance against Spain, he participated in a popular war against the empire which began around 1811. In 1815 he defeated the Spaniards but a year later the Portuguese empire invaded from Brazil.
He kept on fighting against Portugal but he was completely defeated in 1820. Then, he was exiled in Paraguay were he died in 1850.
