Miguel San Martin was my father's grandfather, but my dad never met him. He died in his 40's, at the end of a hernia surgery because his blood had coagulated, and when he sat up, the cagoule traveled up to his heart and killed him instantly. During his life, he was a very successful man. He owned and managed a power plant in Argentina that generated electricity using oil. He was one of the first to do so in southern Argentina, and later on, he opened other power plants with his siblings and became the owner of some of the largest power plants in the country. In the pictures above, you can see his power plant, and there is a picture of him giving a speech to the people of his village during the inauguration of the power plant. From what I've heard, he was a very social man, who got a long with just about anyone.
My great grandfather had 10 brothers and sisters. He was one of the oldest. My dad and his uncle (who is the same age as my dad due to the huge age difference) were both named after him. Ironically, he had always wanted to live in the United States, and both 'Miguels' ended up there. His father was also one of several brothers and sisters. He and his brother both immigrated out of Italy in the late 1800's. My great great grandfather immigrated into Argentina, and his brother immigrated into the United States, but we lost track of him and all of his descendants due to the lack of efficient long distance communication back then. I always wonder if they still live in the states, and what it would be like if we met them.
My great grandfather seemed like he was a very intelligent person. I sometimes think about what he'd be doing now if he were still alive. He'd probably be very up-to-date just like his friend who sent these images to my father - a 90 year old man was able to scan and email several images and write infinite pages about my great grandfather's life and his company on a computer (that's more advanced than my mom!). He'd probably also have an eternity of stories to tell me and my cousins about his life. I would have been able to learn a lot from him.
