José Andrés Pacheco de Melo

Who was José Andrés Pacheco de Melo?

José Andrés Pacheco de Melo was an Argentine statesman and priest. He was a representative to the Congress of Tucumán which on 9 July 1816 declared the Independence of Argentina.

Pacheco de Melo was born in Salta and studied there alongside Martín Güemes. He entered the seminary of Our Lady of Loreto in Córdoba and was ordained in 1801 by Bishop Moscoso of Tucumán.

Pacheco de Melo became a priest in Livi-Livi in Chichas and used his position to assist the revolutionary forces in Alto Perú. He was elected by Chichas to the Tucumán Congress and served in 1816 for the declaration, although there had been a long debate about the legitimacy of his election.

After the Congress moved to Buenos Aires Pacheco de Melo chaired it in 1818. He subsequently served as a government minister in Mendoza. His death is unclear, believed to have been in 1820, and Urquidi notes that he died in Chichas.