The arrival of the first Waldensian groups to the Río de la Plata took place shortly after King Carlo Alberto granted the Waldensians civil and political rights and allowed them at last the right to leave their valleys to the west of Turin. This was also a time of severe economic crisis in the Waldensian valleys, with many families facing deep financial hardship. These two circumstances led many Waldensians to seek opportunities outside their “known territory.” In the Río de la Plata, although some “lone men” (young men looking for work opportunities in America) had arrived earlier, 1857 is considered the year when the first Waldensian families began to arrive.

After an initial failed settlement, in 1858, a group of families established themselves in the “Colonia del Rosario Oriental” (now the area of La Paz and Colonia Valdense) about 120 kilometers west of Uruguay’s capital Montevideo. This colony became an important destination for the groups that arrived in the following decades, but similar processes occurred in other parts of Uruguay, as well as in Argentine provinces like Santa Fe, Entre Ríos, Buenos Aires, and La Pampa.

Throughout the rest of the 19th century and into the early 20th century, the migration of Waldensians to the Río de la Plata occurred in an atmosphere of hope and optimism. The Americas were seen as a land of opportunity, which blended with biblical imagery. However, the arrival of the Waldensians in the region was more complicated than the idealized dream suggested, and organizing agricultural colonies faced difficulties. These challenges were compounded by the political instability of Uruguay and Argentina, which at the time were still “young republics.”

It should be noted that the governments of both Uruguay and Argentina encouraged immigration from Europe, and by permitting the establishment of agricultural colonies, they were able to monitor and control the spread of non-Roman Catholic faith communities as well as to consolidate their control over frontier regions that in previous decades had been usurped from indigenous communities.

In the 20th century, the material prosperity of the Waldensian colonies created a vibrant church environment. Existing congregations encouraged the creation of new “daughter” churches. In some areas, the immigrant agricultural colonies “tamed” and made productive land that previously had been inhabited by indigenous populations. In a way, the Waldensian settlement in Uruguay and Argentina was a piece that fit into the modernization project of the then ruling elites.

The arrival of European Waldensians continued until World War II. Starting in the 1950s, Waldensians began moving from their ‘colonies’ to larger cities such as Bahía Blanca, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Paysandú, and Colonia, attracted by educational opportunities, job prospects, or even the opportunity to practice as doctors, dentists, pharmacists, or lawyers. These internal migration movements led to the emergence of urban churches, and as a result, Waldensian identity in the Río de la Plata experienced significant change.

From then on, cooperative relationships with other churches and with members of various social movements also multiplied. In the 1960s, Liberation Theology emerged along with its deep critique of the social and economic realities in South America. In the context of the Cold War, this renewal generated serious tensions within many Waldensian congregations.

In the 1970s, with military coups and the emergence of violent dictatorships in Uruguay and Argentina, migration reappeared for many Waldensians who felt a need to seek refuge in Europe and other South American countries. Several decades later, as a result of the financial crisis at the beginning of the 21st century, additional Waldensians sought their fortunes in different parts of the world.

The Waldensian ethos in the Río de la Plata is marked by their memories of their own experiences as migrants and by their ability to relate their personal experiences – even if they were sometimes traumatic or conflicted – to the experiences of peoples in the biblical record who also had to uproot themselves to settle in foreign lands.

Learn more:

  • Dalmas, Marcelo. Historia de los valdenses en el Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires: La Aurora, 1987.
  • Geymonat, Roger. El templo y la escuela. Los valdenses en el Río de la Plata. Montevideo, Planeta, 2008.
  • Geymonat, Roger. “El elemento religioso como factor identitario. El caso de los valdenses en Uruguay” in: Las religiones en el Uruguay: algunas aproximaciones, edited by Roger Geymonat. Montevideo: La Gotera, 2004.
  • Geymonat, Roger. Iglesia, Estado y Sociedad en el Uruguay contemporáneo 1960-2010, Montevideo, Banda Oriental, 2021.
  • Pioli, Juan Javier. “Valdesi nel Río de la Plata: itinerari di una chiesa sudamericana”, in: Naso, Paolo, Storia dei Valdesi vol.4, Torino, Claudiana, 2024, chap.14.