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Cattle Breeders and Breed Pioneers

Alberto Gallinal Heber, Estanciero and Rural Association Leader

A lawyer who never practiced and ran the estancias of a leading Uruguayan family, then served as president of the Asociacion Rural.

Who was Alberto Gallinal Heber?

Alberto Carlos Gallinal Heber, nicknamed Coco, was born in Uruguay on 4 November 1909 and died on 27 March 1994. He graduated in law from the Universidad de la Republica but did not practice. His working life went into rural production, public service and the leadership of farm institutions, all documented in a description of his personal archive published by Uruguay's Ministry of Education and Culture.

His parents were Alejandro Gallinal Conlaso and Elena Heber Jackson, and the estate that came from them became the center of his working life.

Which estancias did he run?

Gallinal directed several estancias from his parents' estate, which the archive page describes as the most important such organization in Uruguay. The central properties were San Pedro de Timote, Rincon, Monzon Heber, Santa Helena and Santa Adelaida. Others, including Santa Clara, Palleros, Santa Lucia, San Alberto, Santa Sofia and San Joaquin, were run by relatives or leased out.

San Pedro de Timote, at Estacion Cerro Colorado in the Florida department, was his main base. The administrative offices were in Montevideo. The archive also holds a 1945-46 report on how the estate was administered.

What did he breed: Corriedale or Hereford?

His documented specialty was Corriedale wool production, and he traveled to the United States, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand for that work. In 1931 he began tattooing sheep for identification for the first time, at Cerro Colorado.

He also worked with Hereford cattle, a breed that a Paraguayan trade report calls Uruguay's own cradle, according to an InfoNegocios article on the Hereford breed. The archive holds Hereford association correspondence and a 1962 item from Florida about a Hereford grand champion. Other summaries describe him as a leader of the Hereford breeders and an international judge, but the archive description reviewed here documents only the contacts and one accepted judging invitation, in 1952 for the Corriedale association.

The Key to Gallinal's Success

Gallinal's record is about scale and institutions. He managed a very large family estate and used membership of farm and public bodies to push better practice.

The archive supports these concrete points.

  • He directed a multi-estancia estate rather than a single ranch, which gave him scale for trials and selection.
  • He specialized in Corriedale wool and traveled to four countries for that work.
  • He began tattooing sheep in 1931, an early record-keeping step.
  • He sat on bodies such as the Comision Nacional Pro Mejoramiento Ovino, a national sheep improvement commission.
  • He served as president of the Asociacion Rural, the livestock society founded in 1871 that, as El Observador's history of the ARU shows explains, organizes the national livestock exhibition.
  • He kept an administrative office in Montevideo, and the archive holds a 1945-46 report on the estate's administration.

Public service and honors

Beyond ranching, the archive credits Gallinal with founding a school commission that built 227 schools nationwide, leading a commission for the old Hospital Maciel and expanding maternity services at Pereira Rossell. He built the Hospital Maritimo para Tuberculosos with his own money and that of another contributor, and the Fundacion Gallinal is linked to the origins of MEVIR, Uruguay's rural housing program.

He was president of the board of the Banco de la Republica, a senator and a member of the Florida departmental government. From 1962 to 1976 he served as a diplomat to Portugal and the Holy See, and in 1962 he received the papal Order of St. Gregory the Great.

Where is his archive?

His papers entered the Archivo General de la Nacion in 1998 and were described in 1998 and again in 2007. The collection runs to 28 boxes of documents, 8 maps, 2 plans and 350 books, a unique record of a large Uruguayan estate in the twentieth century.

The page listing it is the best single source on his working life. For more on ranching in the region, see farm.FM's ranching pages, and a farm.FM story on Uruguayan estancia life carries more on the setting.

Timeline

  1. 1909Born on 4 November
  2. 1931Begins tattooing sheep at Cerro Colorado
  3. 1935Marries Elvira Algorta
  4. 1945-1946Report on administration of the family estate
  5. 1952Accepts invitation to judge for the Corriedale association
  6. 1962Papal Order of St. Gregory the Great; begins diplomatic service
  7. 1976Ends diplomatic service to Portugal and the Holy See
  8. 1994Dies on 27 March

Frequently asked questions

Who was Alberto Gallinal Heber?

He was a Uruguayan lawyer, estanciero and public figure, born in 1909, who directed the Gallinal family estancias, led the Asociacion Rural and later served as senator and diplomat.

Which breeds did Alberto Gallinal Heber raise?

His documented specialty was Corriedale wool sheep. His archive also shows Hereford association correspondence and contacts, though the Hereford record is thinner.

Where was his main estancia?

San Pedro de Timote at Estacion Cerro Colorado in the Florida department was his main base, with offices in Montevideo.

Where are his papers kept?

His archive of 28 boxes, 8 maps, 2 plans and 350 books is held by the Archivo General de la Nacion in Uruguay, which received it in 1998.

Sources and further reading

Profiles are compiled from public sources and reviewed against them. See our editorial policy to suggest a correction.

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