# Centennial of the Independence of Peru

The Centennial of the Independence of Peru took place on July 28, 1921, as well as in December 9, 1924. To commemorate the hundred years of the country's independence from Spain, large and lavish parties supervised by President Augusto B. Leguía were held.

## Celebrations

The city of Lima was decorated for the occasion with electric lights that decorated, among other important buildings, the National Congress, the Government Palace, the Plaza Mayor and the German Tower at the University Park, a gift from the German residents in Lima. Some porticos were also adorned with the coats of arms of the nations with which the emancipation was shared: Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia and Panama, and which were placed on the avenues most visited by residents and tourists who came for the event.
There were sumptuous parties at the Government Palace, in the clubs, gala horse races, popular festivals, the great military parade, school parades, float parades and a series of inaugurations. One of the most emotional events was undoubtedly the inauguration of the monument to General José de San Martín, in the plaza that has been named after him ever since.
The Municipality of Lima presented the monument of Admiral Bergasse du Petit Thouars, which is in front of the National Radio headquarters and Washington Square. The Peruvian capital was visited by numerous delegations from other countries, motivated by the good international relations that the government of President Leguía had weaved. Subsequently, a book was published in which an account of foreign visits is made, noting not only the number of members of the delegations but also the quality of the characters who came to visit the country.

### Foreign delegations

Twenty-nine foreign delegations from countries in the Americas, Europe and Asia arrived. Venezuela (whose government mistakenly believed that the Liberator Simón Bolívar had been marginalized from the tributes) and Chile (which was not invited because it had a territorial conflict with Peru) were not represented.
Among the foreign ambassadors and extraordinary envoys were:
| Country | Name | Head of state |
| Argentina | Luis Duprat | Hipólito Yrigoyen |
| Belgium | Paul de Groot | Albert I of Belgium |
| Bolivia | Abel Iturralde | Bautista Saavedra |
| Brazil | Silvino Gurgel do Amaral | Epitácio Pessoa |
| China | Shin Yi Din | Xu Shichang |
| Colombia | Antonio Gómez Restrepo [es] | Marco Fidel Suárez |
| Costa Rica | Gregorio Martín | Julio Acosta García |
| Cuba | Nicolás de Cárdenas y Chappotín | Alfredo Zayas y Alfonso |
| Denmark | Otto Wadsted | Christian X of Denmark |
| Dominican Republic | Benjamín Valega | Thomas Snowden |
| El Salvador | Gregorio Martín | Jorge Meléndez |
| France | Charles Mangin | Alexandre Millerand |
| Germany | Hans Paul von Humboldt-Dachroeden | Friedrich Ebert |
| Guatemala | Paulo Emilio Guedes | Carlos Herrera |
| Haiti | Victor Kieffer Marchand | Philippe Sudré Dartiguenave |
| Holy See | Carlo Pietropaoli and Lelio Nicolo Orsini | Pope Benedict XV |
| Honduras | Gregorio Martín | Rafael López Gutiérrez |
| Italy | Guglielmo Mengarini | Victor Emmanuel III of Italy |
| Japan | Gonshiro Nishi | Emperor Taishō |
| Mexico | Antonio Caso Andrade | Álvaro Obregón |
| Netherlands | Wilhelm d'Artillac Grill | Wilhelmina of the Netherlands |
| Nicaragua | Leoncio I. de Mora | Diego Manuel Chamorro |
| Norway | Harvard Huitfeldt Bachke | Haakon VII of Norway |
| Panama | Eduardo Chiari | Belisario Porras Barahona |
| Portugal | José María Pereira | António José de Almeida |
| Spain | Cipriano Muñoz, 2nd Count of la Viñaza | Alfonso XIII |
| Sweden | Carlos F. Hultgren | Gustaf V |
| United Kingdom | Douglas Cochrane | George V |
| United States | Albert Douglas | Warren G. Harding |
| Uruguay | José Espalter | Baltasar Brum |

### Foreign gifts

Some foreign residents in Lima, with or without the help of their natural governments, made the decision to gift monuments to the city, at the time characterized for its progressive and French-style character. The offerings of these monuments were made in 1921, but not all the gifts were ready that year: some began to be built on that date, but as their execution took time, they were delivered progressively until 1926, in a series of ceremonies. The original idea had been that these gifts would be delivered between 1921 and 1924, that is, between the centenary of the proclamation of the Independence of Peru by the Liberator José de San Martín, which took place on July 28, 1921, and of the Battle of Ayacucho, celebrated on December 9, 1924, which sealed the independence from Spain. The resident colonies in Peru that offered gifts were German, French, Belgian, American, Chinese, Japanese, English, Italian and Spanish. There were also countries that gave gifts. Such was the case of Argentina, which after the ceremony on July 28, 1921, left the Tucuman horses, their harness and the spears. with which the soldiers that the homeland of San Martín had sent to remember the liberating feat, paraded.
| Country / Colony | Name | Author | Inauguration date | Location |
| Belgium | El estibador | Constantin Meunier | 1926 | Belgium Plaza, Leguía Avenue |
| Brazil | Palm trees | | | Leguía Avenue |
| China | Fuente China | Ettore Graziosi and Valmore Gemignani Gaetano Moretti [it] (architect) | | Park of the Exhibition |
| Ecuador | Monumento en homenaje a la memoria del Mariscal Antonio José de Sucre | David Lozano | c. 1924 | Parque de la Reserva |
| France | Estatua de La Libertad | René Bertrand-Boutée | 1926 | Placita de la Recoleta |
| Germany | Torre Alemana | Friedrich Jordan Barkholtz | July 10, 1923 | University Park |
| Italy | Museum of Italian Art | Gaetano Moretti | November 11, 1923 | Neptune Park |
| Japan | Monumento a Manco Cápac | David Lozano | April 5, 1926 | Manco Cápac Plaza |
| Spain | Arco Morisco | | July 17, 1924 | Parque de la Amistad |
| United Kingdom | Estadio Nacional | | July 29, 1923 | Santa Beatriz, Lima |
| United States | George Washington statue | Jean-Antoine Houdon | July 4, 1922 | Washington Park, Leguía Avenue |
| United States | Fuente de los Atlantes | Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney | August 6, 1924 | Leguía Avenue |