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Brouchy, Pedro Mariano (1893–1969)

By Daniel Oscar Plenc

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Daniel Oscar Plenc, Th.D. (River Plate Adventist University, Entre Ríos, Argentina), currently works as a theology professor and director of the White Research Center at the River Plate Adventist University. He worked as a district pastor for twelve years. He is married to Lissie Ziegler and has three children.

First Published: January 29, 2020

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Pedro Mariano Brouchy was a missionary nurse, pastor, evangelist, and Adventist administrator. He served as a missionary in northern Argentina and as the president of several fields in the former Austral Union Conference (Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay).1

Early Years, Conversion and Education

Pedro M. Brouchy was born on September 28, 1893, in Posadas, Misiones, Argentina.2 He was the second son of Eugenio Hermenegildo Brouchy and Esperanza Tamís. He had three brothers: Eugenio, Idilio, and Francisco.3 The Brouchy family lived first in Posadas and then in Villa Encarnación, Paraguay. Manuel J. Brouchy, Eugenio’s brother, was a Methodist who accepted the doctrine of the Sabbath after meeting a Chilean Cabañista (Sabbath keeper who celebrates certain Jewish holidays) named Federico Bizama around 1900 or 1901.4 Manuel formed a group with 40 Sabbath keepers in Posadas. While visiting his brother Eugenio, he shared his knowledge about the Sabbath.

In late 1902, Pastor John McCarthy and Pastor Robert H. Habenicht, who was also a physician, arrived in the area. These Adventist missionaries convinced Manuel J. Brouchy, Federico Bizama, and the entire group in Posadas and Encarnación of the Adventist message. That was the origin of the Alto Paraná Mission. Manuel became a tireless Adventist missionary.5 Eugenio H. Brouchy’s family accepted the message in Villa Encarnación, Paraguay, and in their home, they organized the first Adventist group in the country. Pastor McCarthy returned the next year and baptized 20 people in Posadas and eight in Encarnación, including Eugenio and Esperanza Brouchy and their children Eugenio and Pedro. On September 20, 1903, nine-year-old Pedro M. Brouchy was baptized by Pastor McCarthy in the Santa Maria River in Villa Encarnación, Paraguay. At the end of 1903, the first Adventist church in Paraguay was organized in Escarnacíon and had 14 members.6 Robert H. Habenicht and John McCarthy impressed Pedro’s childish mind with a deep desire to be a missionary in the service of evangelism.

Pedro M. Brouchy attended the only government school in Encarnación and worked many jobs to help support his family. He was a shoemaker, lamplighter (in charge of lighting the city’s lights), trade clerk, boatman in the harbor, and carpenter. By 1907, his parental home disintegrated, due to the death of his mother and his father’s transfer to canvassing in Corrientes.

Pedro M. Brouchy participated in the first annual congress of the Alto Paraná Mission, chaired by Pastor Luis F. Ernst, in Santa Ana, Misiones. In the humble church of Posadas, Misiones, Brouchy met his future wife, Adela Toledo. He started working in a store. In 1909, he participated in another congress of the Alto Paraná Mission, which was held in Encarnación, Paraguay, and led by Pastors Luis Ernst, Nelson Z. Town, Eduardo W. Thomann, and Ignacio Kalbermatter. During that meeting, five young people, including Adela Toledo and Pedro M. Brouchy, decided to enroll in the new nursing course offered by the River Plate Sanitarium and Hospital in Entre Ríos, Argentina. They wanted to dedicate themselves to medical missionary service in places where there was no Adventist work. Adela Toledo traveled to Entre Ríos immediately, and Pedro M. Brouchy went the following year. In 1912, Adela Toledo finished her studies at the River Plate Sanitarium and Hospital as part of the first class of nurse practitioners. She went to Corrientes, where she managed to register with the health council for the province of Corrientes after passing the corresponding exam.7

Adela Toledo de Brouchy was born on December 16, 1891, in Posadas, Misiones, Argentina, and died on May 26, 1970, at the River Plate Sanitarium and Hospital.8 She and Pedro M. Brouchy married in 1913 and had three children: Juan Carlos, Edith, and Efraín. Adela Toledo worked as a missionary nurse and as a Bible instructor.

Missionary and Evangelist

After graduating as a nurse and massage therapist from the River Plate Sanitarium and Hospital in 1913, Pedro M. Brouchy arrived in Corrientes on November 16, 1913, and also registered with the health council, receiving the right to practice in the province.9 In 1914, he opened a hydrotherapy and massage room in Corrientes with his wife’s help. He worked for 14 years in the province of Corrientes, with half of that time as a support worker for the Church.10 Besides their nursing jobs, Pedro M. and Adela Brouchy did evangelizing work, teaching about the Bible and conducting evangelism and health conferences. Pedro M. Brouchy used to dedicate whole weeks to his evangelism labors, and twice a year, he requested the presence of a pastor to perform baptisms.11

During those missionary trips, he traveled through the interior of the province of Corrientes and the national territory (current province) of the Chaco.12 And a group of more than thirty brothers and interested people met at his house in Corrientes. Among other places, he carried also the message to and organized the first group of Adventists in Bella Vista, Corrientes, where the Hengen, Lavooy, and Sand families—future missionaries—lived.13

Pedro M. Brouchy was ordained to pastoral ministry during a meeting of the Austral Union Conference held in Puiggari, Entre Ríos, Argentina, on 1923. After many years, he left Corrientes to work in the city of La Plata, Buenos Aires. Then he began an extensive period of management roles in church administration.

Church Administrator and Retirement

Pastor Brouchy was president of the Buenos Aires Conference from 1928 to 1933 and then was president of the Uruguay Mission for eight years (1934–1941).14 When he arrived in Uruguay, there were 492 members in the country; by the time of his departure, the country had 939 parishioners.15 He served as president of the Cuyo Mission (1942–1945) and later was president of the North Mission (1946–1949).16 Finally, he served as the manager of the River Plate Sanitarium and Hospital (1950–1954). Some of the most representative Adventist buildings in Argentina and Uruguay testify of his determination and decisions. He led such church-building initiatives as those of the Palermo and Florida churches in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and the Central church in Montevideo, Uruguay; he also made an important extension of the River Plate Sanitarium and Hospital.17 Pedro M. Brouchy died on January 29, 1969, in Libertador San Martín, Entre Ríos, Argentina.

Pedro M. Brouchy is remembered for his sacrifice and courage, his excellent relations with the civil authorities, his burden for his fellow human beings, and his pastoral and evangelism concern.18

Sources

Block, Godofredo. “Necrología” [Obituary]. Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], November 22, 1937.

Brouchy, Pedro M. “Artigas, Uruguay.” Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], November 22, 1937.

———. “Bautismo en Villa Ángela” [Baptism in Villa Ángela]. Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], March 1949.

———. “Corrientes, Misión Alto Paraná” [Corrientes, Alto Paraná Mission]. Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], September 1914.

———. “Corrientes, República Argentina” [Corrientes, Argentine Republic]. Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], June 1915.

———. “Corrientes, República Argentina” [Corrientes, Argentine Republic]. Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], September 1917.

———. “Corrientes.” Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], August 1916.

———. “Donaciones inesperadas” [Unexpected donations]. Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], August 1949.

———. “El Instituto Juan Bautista Alberdi” [Juan Bautista Alberdi Institute]. Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], March 3, 1949.

———. “Informe cuadrienal de la Misión Uruguaya” [Quadrennial Report of the Uruguay Mission]. Revista Adventista [Adventist Review] 42, no. 7 (April 27, 1942): 12.

———. “La obra en el Paraguay” [The work in Paraguay]. Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], August 1948.

———. “La obra en Paso de los Libres, Corrientes, República Argentina” [The work in Paso de los Libres, Corrientes, Argentine Republic]. Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], April 24, 1922.

———. “Memorias de un misionero adventista” [Memories of an Adventist missionary]. Unpublished manuscript, 1967. Ellen G. White Research Center, River Plate Adventist University, Entre Ríos, Argentina.

———. ‘Misión Alto Paraná” [Alto Paraná Mission]. Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], August 1914.

———. “News From the Cuyo Mission.” South American Bulletin, no. 1 (first semester 1945): 6.

———. “Notas de la Misión Uruguaya” [Uruguay Mission notes]. Revista Adventista [Adventist Review] 39, no. 4 (February 27, 1939): 10.

———. “Noticias de interés” [News of interest]. Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], August 1949.

———. “Noticias de la Misión Uruguaya” [Uruguay Mission news]. Revista Adventista [Adventist Review] 38, no. 9 (May 9, 1938): 10.

———. “Noticias de la Misión Uruguaya” [Uruguay Mission news]. Revista Adventista [Adventist Review] 40, no. 6 (March 18, 1940): 9.

———. “Obra evangélica en el norte de Argentina” [Evangelical work in northern Argentina]. Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], August 1949.

———. “Obra evangélica en el Uruguay” [Evangelic work in Uruguay]. Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], February 4, 1935.

———. “Precursor y pionero de la obra adventista en lo que fue la Misión del Alto Paraná” [Forerunner and pioneer of Adventist work in what was the Alto Paraná Mission]. Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], March 1968.

———. “Reunión bienal de la Asociación en Buenos Aires” [Biennial meeting of the Buenos Aires Conference]. Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], September 1930.

———. Revista Adventista [Adventist Review] 34, no. 17 (August 20, 1934): 10.

———. “Una experiencia de la Sociedad de Jóvenes de Corrientes” [An experience of the Corrientes Youth Society]. Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], May 22, 1919.

———. “Una gira por el Chaco Argentino” [A tour by the Argentine Chaco]. Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], January 10, 1927.

Chaij, Nicolás. El colportor de éxito [The successful colporteur]. Buenos Aires: South America Spanish Publishing House, 1974.

Chávez, Samuel Antonio. Breve historia de las raíces del adventismo en Bolivia 1897–1927 [Brief history of the roots of Adventism in Bolivia 1897–1927]. Cochabamba, Bolivia: New Time Editions, 2007.

Flores, Ramón. Una historia de servicio [A history of service]. Posadas, Misiones: self-published, n.d.

Howell, Emma E. El gran movimiento adventista [The great Adventist movement]. Buenos Aires: South America Spanish Publishing House, 1975.

Revista Adventista [Adventist Review] 64 (April 1964): 14.

Revista Adventista [Adventist Review] 70, no. 9.

Peverini, Héctor J. En las huellas de la Providencia [In the footsteps of Providence]. Buenos Aires: South America Spanish Publishing House, 1988.

Plenc, Daniel Oscar. “Misioneros en el Uruguay” [Missionaries in Uruguay]. Revista Adventista [Adventist Review] 117, no. 4 (April 2017): 9.

———. Misioneros en Sudamérica: Pioneros del Adventismo en Latinoamérica [Missionaries in South America: Pioneers of Adventism in Latin America]. 2nd ed. Buenos Aires: South America Spanish Publishing House, 2008.

———. Tributo a la Esperanza: la Iglesia de Colonia Pintos Viana [Tribute to hope: The church of Colonia Pintos Viana]. Rosario, Santa Fe: self-published, 2014.

———. “Un sábado muy bendecido” [A very blessed Saturday]. Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], January 2005.

Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia. 2nd rev. ed. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1996.

Wasiuk, Oscar N. Reseña histórica de la Iglesia Adventista del 7° Día en el Uruguay [Historical review of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Uruguay]. Buenos Aires: South America Spanish Publishing House, 1996.

Notes

  1. Daniel Oscar Plenc, Tributo a la esperanza: la Iglesia de Colonia Pintos Viana [Tribute to hope: The church of Colonia Pintos Viana] (Rosario, Santa Fe: self-pub., 2014), 142–145; Daniel Oscar Plenc, Misioneros en Sudamérica: Pioneros del Adventismo en Latinoamérica [Missionaries in South America: Pioneers of Adventism in Latin America], 2nd ed. (Buenos Aires: South America Spanish Publishing House, 2008), 119–131; Daniel Oscar Plenc, “Misioneros en el Uruguay” [Missionaries in Uruguay], Revista Adventista [Adventist Review] 117, no. 4 (April 2017): 9; Pedro M. Brouchy, “Memorias de un misionero adventista” [Memories of an Adventist missionary] (unpublished manuscript, 1967, Ellen G. White Research Center, River Plate Adventist University, Entre Ríos, Argentina); Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia, 2nd rev. ed. (1996), 1013.↩

  2. Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia (1996) records the birth of P. M. Brouchy in 1891. Misiones, Argentina, was a national territory between 1881 and 1953; then it became a province.↩

  3. Idilio M. Brouchy graduated from the Escuela de Enfermería del Sanatorio Adventista del Plata (River Plate Nursing School of the Adventist Sanatorium) in 1918. He married Cleo Habenicht in 1919. They were support workers in Brazil. Francisco Brouchy graduated from the same school in 1918 and married Lydia Lust. Francisco led the work in Ecuador and Bolivia. Emma E. Howell, El Gran Movimiento Adventista [The great Adventist movement] (Florida, Buenos Aires: South America Spanish Publishing House, 1975), 216–218; Samuel Antonio Chávez, Breve historia de las raíces del adventismo en Bolivia 1897–1927 [Brief history of the roots of Adventism in Bolivia 1897–1927] (Cochabamba, Bolivia: Ediciones Nuevo Tiempo, 2007), 60.↩

  4. See Nicolás Chaij, El colportor de éxito [The successful colporteur] (Buenos Aires: South America Spanish Publishing House, 1974), 46–48.↩

  5. Pedro M. Brouchy, “Precursor y pionero de la obra adventista en lo que fue la Misión del Alto Paraná” [Forerunner and pioneer of Adventist work in what was the Alto Paraná Mission], Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], March 1968, 13. For more information about Manuel Brouchy, see Godofredo Block, “Necrología” [Obituary], Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], November 22, 1937, 15.↩

  6. Héctor J. Peverini, En las huellas de la Providencia [In the footsteps of Providence] (Buenos Aires: South America Spanish Publishing House, 1988), 73.↩

  7. Ibid., 147.↩

  8. Revista Adventista [Adventist Review] 70, no. 9, 19.↩

  9. Ibid.↩

  10. Peverini, En las huellas de la Providencia, 221. Regarding his work in Corrientes, Argentina, see the following articles by Pedro M. Brouchy: “Misión Alto Paraná” [Alto Paraná Mission], Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], August 1914, 10, 11; “Corrientes, Misión Alto Paraná” [Corrientes, Alto Paraná Mission], Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], September 1914, 12, 13; “Corrientes, República Argentina” [Corrientes, Argentine Republic], Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], June 1915, 10, 11; “Corrientes,” Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], August 1916, 14, 15; “Corrientes, República Argentina” [Corrientes, Argentine Republic], Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], September 1917, 13, 14; “Una experiencia de la Sociedad de Jóvenes de Corrientes” [An experience of the Corrientes Youth Society], Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], May 22, 1919, 11; “La obra en Paso de los Libres, Corrientes, República Argentina” [The work in Paso de los Libres, Corrientes, Argentina], Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], April 24, 1922, 8; “Una gira por el Chaco Argentino” [A tour by the Argentine Chaco], Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], January 10, 1927, 12, 13.↩

  11. Peverini, En las huellas de la Providencia, 148.↩

  12. See Daniel Oscar Plenc, “Un sábado muy bendecido” [A very blessed Saturday], Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], January 2005, 16, 17. The national territory of the Chaco existed between 1872 and 1951; then it became a province.↩

  13. Revista Adventista [Adventist Review] 70, no. 9, 19.↩

  14. Oscar N. Wasiuk, Reseña histórica de la Iglesia Adventista del 7º Día en el Uruguay [Historical review of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Uruguay] (Buenos Aires: South America Spanish Publishing House, 1996), 26, 27, 29. See the following articles by Pedro M. Brouchy: “Reunión bienal de la Asociación en Buenos Aires” [Biennial meeting of the Buenos Aires Conference], Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], September 1930, 16; Revista Adventista [Adventist Review] 34, no. 17 (August 20, 1934): 10; “Obra evangélica en el Uruguay” [Evangelical work in Uruguay], Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], February 4, 1935, 11, 12; “Artigas, Uruguay,” Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], November 22, 1937, 16; “Noticias de la Misión Uruguaya” [Uruguay Mission news], Revista Adventista [Adventist Review] 38, no. 9 (May 9, 1938): 10; “Notas de la Misión Uruguaya” [Uruguay Mission notes], Revista Adventista [Adventist Review] 39, no. 4 (February 27, 1939): 10; “Noticias de la Misión Uruguaya” [Uruguay Mission news], Revista Adventista [Adventist Review] 40, no. 6 (March 18, 1940): 9; “Informe cuadrienal de la Misión Uruguaya” [Quadrennial report of the Uruguay Mission], Revista Adventista [Adventist Review] 42, no. 7 (April 27, 1942): 12.↩

  15. Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, years 1935 and 1942. https://www.adventistyearbook.org/.↩

  16. See the following articles by Pedro M. Brouchy: “News From the Cuyo Mission,” South American Bulletin, no. 1 (first semester 1945): 6; “La obra en el Paraguay” [The work in Paraguay], Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], August 1948, 12; “Bautismo en Villa Ángela” [Baptism in Villa Ángela], Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], March 1949, 12; “Obra evangélica en el norte de Argentina” [Evangelical work in northern Argentina], Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], August 1949, 12; “Donaciones inesperadas” [Unexpected donations], Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], August 1949, 14; “Noticias de interés” [News of interest], Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], August 1949, 16; “El Instituto Juan Bautista Alberdi” [Juan Bautista Alberdi Institute], Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], March 3, 1949, 9.↩

  17. Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], April 1964, 14.↩

  18. Ramón Flores, Una historia de servicio [A history of service] (Posadas, Misiones: self-pub., n.d.), 30.↩

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Plenc, Daniel Oscar. "Brouchy, Pedro Mariano (1893–1969)." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. January 29, 2020. Accessed January 22, 2025. https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=CI5O.

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Plenc, Daniel Oscar. "Brouchy, Pedro Mariano (1893–1969)." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. January 29, 2020. Date of access January 22, 2025, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=CI5O.

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Plenc, Daniel Oscar (2020, January 29). Brouchy, Pedro Mariano (1893–1969). Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. Retrieved January 22, 2025, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=CI5O.

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