Juan José Castelli
![](/Images/godic/202501/21/Castelli0243.jpg")
![Manuel Belgrano, Castelli's cousin, worked with him at the consulate and in local newspapers.](/Images/godic/202501/21/Manuel_Belgrano0243.JPG")
![C******te of Spain sought to rule the Río de la Plata as regent.](/Images/godic/202501/21/Carlota_Joaquina0243.jpg")
![This bas-relief by Gustavo Everlein depicts Castelli demanding that the viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros allow an open cabildo.](/Images/godic/202501/21/Castelli_y_Cisneros0243.jpg")
Juan José Castelli (July 19, 1764 – October 12, 1812) was an Argentine lawyer. He was one of the leaders of the May Revolution, which started the Argentine War of Independence. He led an ill-fated military campaign in Upper Peru.
Juan José Castelli was born in Buenos Aires, and went to school at the Real Colegio de San Carlos in Buenos Aires and Monserrat College in the city of Córdoba, Argentina. He graduated as a lawyer from the University of Charcas, in Upper Peru. His cousin, Manuel Belgrano, introduced him to the public administration of the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata. Along with Belgrano, Nicolás Rodríguez Peña, and Hipólito Vieytes, Castelli planned a revolution to replace the absolute monarchy with the new ideas of the Age of Enlightenment. He led the Buenos Aires patriots during the May Revolution, which ended with the removal of viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros from power. He is known as the "Speaker of the Revolution" for his speech during the open cabildo held in Buenos Aires on May 22, 1810.