This life-sized bust of Luis Jorge Fontana is placed on a brick pedestal. It seems to be made of concrete. It depicts Fontana as middle aged with a large mustache and wearing dress military garb.
The plaque reads:
"HOMENAJE
LA ASSOCIACION DE RESI
DENTES FORMOSENOS
LUIS JORGE FONTANA
AL FUNDADOR DE FORMOSA
COMANDANTE
LUIS JORGE FONTANA
156 ANIVERSARIO DE SU
NACIMIENTO SU RESTITU-
CION 1846
19 DE ABRIL 2002"
which Google translates as:
" "TRIBUTE
RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION formoseños
JORGE LUIS FONTANA
AL FOUNDER OF FORMOSA
COMMANDER
JORGE LUIS FONTANA
156 ANNIVERSARY OF HIS
BIRTH its Restitution 1846
19 APRIL 2002 "
Wikipedia (
visit link) adds:
"Luis Jorge Fontana (born April 19, 1846 in Buenos Aires, Argentina; died October 18, 1920 in San Juan, Argentina) was an Argentine military officer, explorer, geographer, writer, and politician. He was the first governor of the national territory of Chubut (now Chubut Province) and founder of the city of Formosa.
Fontana was born in Buenos Aires on April 19, 1846. His father was an official in the government of Juan Manuel de Rosas. When Fontana was young, his family moved to Carmen de Patagones. At age thirteen, Fontana entered the Military Command of Río Negro as a trainee; he later fought in the Paraguayan War. After the war ended, he lived for a time in Buenos Aires, where he studied natural sciences, astronomy, and physics under Hermann Burmeister. He then returned to the army, and he was deployed on border expeditions exploring the Gran Chaco. During one expedition, he lost his left arm in a violent encounter with an indigenous group in the region.
In 1879, Fontana founded the city of Formosa, and he was awarded the rank of lieutenant colonel. He then returned to Patagonia, which he had visited as a child, and in 1884 he was named the first governor of the national territory of Chubut. There he directed the expedition to the west with an exploratory group named the Chubut Riflement (Rifleros del Chubut), which discovered the October 16 Valley (Valle 16 de Octubre), a fertile area in the foothills that would later be the site of the Welsh colony of Trevelin.
Fontana spent his later years in San Juan, where he held various public and community offices. He died on October 18, 1920.["