Search:

Antoine I, King Of Araucania And Patagonia

Orélie Antoine de Tounens was a simple lawyer that lived modestly in France, but in 1854 he sold everything he had and embarked himself in a trip to Patagonia and to make the mother of all bets, which brought scorn from many and oblivion for quite some time, but also, the eternal recognition that only a fantastic life could bring upon anybody.

Monsieur de Tounens arrived in the freezing shores of Patagonia when it was still free from the conquest of European settlers, before it was seized largely by Argentina and to a lesser extent, by Chile. Then, he convinced all the chieftains of the region to assemble in a council and have him elected as their leader.

He was duly crowned as Antoine I, King of Araucania and Patagonia, and ruled his strange state for a couple of years; but authorities in Argentina and Chile, countries that already had plans for the region, didn't like the thing a bit. The Chileans took him hostage and made him abdicate after torture. Then, he was deported back to France but during his lifetime returned several times to his kingdom, only to witness the extermination of vast numbers of Mapuches.

He never renounces his rights, and the same could be said about his descendants: Prince Philippe Boiry has been declared the legitimate aspirant to the throne of Patagonia, and while some historians fill books and Internet pages with scorn about the whole issue, the fact is that in three separate instances, French judges found out that the claim is legitimate.

So it is only a matter of time until the forgotten kingdom rises again, and it is a fact that the Mapuches, especially in Chile, are yearning for autonomy and self-rule; they never forgot their king and he, after all, might just get what he was looking for. Nothing is impossible and our advice for you is that it is better to live from dreams and make your bets than to stay within the comfort zone of inaction. That is, after all, how kings are made.