Rafael Hernández National College Colegio Nacional Rafael Hernández
Address
Calles 1 y 49 La Plata , Buenos Aires Argentina
Information
Type	Public secondary
Motto	Por la ciencia y por la Patria
Established	1885
Founder	Joaquín V. González
Rector	Prof. Dominique Suffern Quirno
Faculty	350
Gender	Coeducational
Enrollment	1639
Campus	Urban
Athletics	Basketball, Soccer, Volleyball
Affiliation	National University of La Plata
Former names	Colegio Provincial de La Plata · Colegio Nacional de La Plata
Notable alumni	Horacio Etchegoyen · René Favaloro · David Graiver · Julieta Lanteri · Ernesto Sábato · Leonardo Fariña
Website	www.nacio.unlp.edu.ar

The Rafael Hernández National College is one of the four public high schools that are part of the National University of La Plata, in the City of La Plata, Argentina. The Colegio Nacional aegis denotes a school belonging to the system of national secondary schools. The other constituent high schools associated with this university are the Víctor Mercante Lyceum, the "Bachillerato de Bellas Artes" (High School for the Fine Arts) and the Inchausti School for Agricultural Education.

The school, usually referred to as the "Colegio Nacional La Plata" (CNLP, National College of La Plata), occupies a large block centred at the crossing of 1st and 49th streets in La Plata, at the edge of "El Bosque", La Plata's main park. The large engraving at the old building's entrance reads simply "Universidad Nacional, Colegio" ("National University, High School").

Originally, the college, founded by Joaquín V. González, was reserved for boys, whereas the Victor Mercante Lyceum was a girls-only school. The link of these schools with the university allowed them to pioneer innovations in curricula, since many university professors and teaching assistants were among its faculty. In its inception, the college functioned as a classic British boarding school, where students and professors lived together for extended periods of time. Admission into the school was free (i.e., no fees), although very limited and required approving strict entrance examinations. Until the 1970s, alumni from the school were automatically admitted into the University of La Plata. From the educational point of view, it was originally structured as a European gymnasium. It is considered one of the most prestigious secondary schools in Argentina.

History

Notable alumni

• 1887: Juana Cortelezzi (geologist, first woman full professor at the National University of La Plata)
• 1897: Julieta Lanteri (physician, first woman to enroll in and graduate from the institution)
• 1928: Ernesto Sábato (novelist)
• 1937: Horacio Etchegoyen (psychoanalyst)
• 1941: René Favaloro (physician, first surgeon to perform bypass surgery on a patient suffering from coronary artery disease, and a key contributor to the modern surgical technique.)
• 1959: David Graiver (financier)
• 1945: Sergio Karakachoff (lawyer and human rights worker)
• 2000: Lucio Cinti (rugby player)

List of School Headmasters ("Rectors")

References

External links

• Website of Colegio Nacional Rafael Hernández (in Spanish)

34°54′30″S 57°56′38″W / 34.90833°S 57.94389°W / -34.90833; -57.94389