Swiss Immigration and the Raising of a Yerba Mate in Misiones, Argentina: A Microhistorical Approach (1919-1929)

Author(s) : María Cecilia Gallero, Laura Mabel Zang

Source : https://doi.org/10.33679/rmi.v1i1.2784

Abstract:

“This article focuses on Swiss migration during the 1920s and aims to analyse the figure of Professor Andreas Sprecher von Bernegg as a fundamental link in the formation and articulation of a migratory network linked to yerba mate, “the green gold.” Based on a microhistorical and prosopographical approach, the methodology employed is essentially qualitative, with the analysis of sources from private and state archives, immigrants’ memories, travellers’ accounts and interviews for the creation of oral sources and ethnographic interviews. The arrival of his students in Misiones was fundamental in transforming the local economy and promoted the transition from an extractive economy to a productive one based on the growing of yerba mate, with the vision that quality rather than quantity should prevail.”

Keywords: Swiss migrations, yerba mate, Andreas Sprecher von Bernegg, Misiones, Argentina