Insecurity: Bronze plaques stolen from the mausoleums of the Gálvez brothers in the Chacarita cemetery

The story of the brothers Oscar AND Juan Galvez It is also that of nearly three decades of Road tourism: Between the 1947 and 1961 races, only one missed the title. The surname carries enough weight to be mentioned in every conversation about Argentine motorsports.

But the weight of his memory is also sold on the illegal metal market. On the morning of March 3, on the occasion of the meeting for the 61st anniversary of Juan’s tragic death – already the 34th anniversary of Oscar’s -, the Gálvez family found themselves in a violent scenario: the bronze plates had been stolen who remember them in the mausoleums of their tombs in the Chacarita Cemetery.

The news was spread by Juan’s son and Oscar’s nephew, Ricardo Galvezwho pointed to Clarion that this is nothing new as the first time was in 2021, but now “they are destroying the cemetery”. This time there wasn’t just one, but they got them all. Only those who remembered their father were 21 years old.

“This is not a thief who jumps at night. It is impossible to climb over the walls of the Chacarita cemetery, much less jump them again on the other side with the weight of bronze”Gálvez analyzes with common sense.

Inside Personality fencethe nearby gravestones of Alfonsina Storni, Quinquela Martín, Luis Sandrini, Francisco and Julio de Caro, José Amalfitani, Roberto Goyeneche, Adolfo Pedernera, Osvaldo Pugliese and Aníbal Troilo, They also finished bronze.

“We’re talking about thousands of kilos that have been taken. It’s impossible to understand unless a van comes in… Someone opens the door! And it’s not once, twice or ten times, this is permanent”Galvez said.

The Chacarita Cemetery is almost 20 times the size of the Recoleta Cemetery and in its 95 hectares There are the remains of Pocho La Pantera, Adolfo Castelo, Jorge Porcel, María Gabriela Epumer, Juan Verdaguer, Leonardo Favio, María Elena Walsh, the jockey Irineo Leguisamo, the aviator Jorge Newbery and Osvaldo Soriano, among others.

“They are ransacking the cemetery. They told me they got a bronze statue that weighs more than 100 kilos. Busts of people’s heads were taken. How is it possible that for years no one knows anything, no one sees anything and no one cares? Here are the feelings of those who have their loved one there and people leave their plaque as a tribute. It’s really very sad, but even sadder is the inefficiency of the people who take care of them.”lament.

A few days after learning of the theft, the Argentine Association of Flyers (AAV), chaired by him José Maria Traverso released a statement denying what happened.

“From the Argentine Association of Volantes we deplore and repudiate the theft of all the bronze plaques from the mausoleums of the tombs of Juan and Oscar Galvez and obviously also the theft in all the tombs and monuments with similar characteristics in the Chacarita Cemetery” the entity has complained in a statement.

“We ask for respect for the memory of those who are not here and for the authorities to provide appropriate care,” the AAV concluded in its statement.

Who were the Gálvez brothers?

Although they distinguished themselves separately, they started together. First in the workshop and then on the track. The duo debuted in the first Argentine Mille Miglia organized by the Automobile Club Avellaneda in 1937. Oscar was 24 years old and had already debuted in Road tourism; Juan, 21 years old, and until then he had remained under the car, concentrating on the mechanics.

In 1939, the year they achieved their first victory, the Argentine Grand Prix where Juan Manuel Fangio made his debut-, they broke the differential and tied it with wire, while in 1940, after a sudden fall from a cliff in the Northern International Grand Prix, Oscar began to participate with a parachutist helmet and Juan took one of the ones they used in war tanks.

Oscar Gálvez won the two championships in 1947/48 and 1953/34 and 1961 with his Ford coupé and took the checkered flag first on 43 occasions. Juan. In ’53 he raced a Formula One Grand Prix aboard a Maserati.

For his part, Juan, who was encouraged to act and starred in the 1950 film “Steel Race Car”– won nine Road Touring championships: four consecutive from 1949 to 1952, another four from 1955 to 1958 and the one in 1960.

He participated in 153 races and had 56 winning opportunities. The last one was at the IV Vuelta de Laboulaye in 1962 aboard a Ford. He died a year later in the Olavarría trial at the age of 47.