He was born in the neighborhood of Monserrat, Buenos Aires, son of Sinforoso Camilo Canaverys and Quintina Páez, belonging to a distinguished Creole family of French or Irish descent. His grandfather Manuel Canaverys, was a Lieutenant of the Regimiento de Patricios, who toke part in the defense and reconquest of the city during the English Invasion, and who also participated in the donations for the First Upper Peru campaign in 1810.