He was born in Buenos Aires, the son of José Canaveris and Agustina Denis, belonging to a patrician family of the city. He completed his elementary studies in Buenos Aires, and was graduated from the Argentine Navy on October 2, 1833, serving as Second-lieutenant of artillery in the Compañía de Artillería de Mar, a Naval artillery corps created by decree on December 1, 1830. Feliciano Canaveris made his entire military career in the Argentine Navy. In 1834 he was promoted to Lieutenant, and was dismissed for political reasons on April 16, 1835. His dismissal from the ranks of the Federal Army was by order of Juan Manuel de Rosas. Possibly Canaveris had political leanings towards the Unitarian Party. His brother Juan Manuel Canaveris belonged to sector of the Federal Party, known as "Lomos Negros", allied to Juan Ramón Balcarce. In 1840 the authorities had given an arrest warrant against Feliciano Canaveris, accusing him of wanting to leave Buenos Aires to join in the troops of Juan Lavalle. After borrowing a horse, he escaped towards Entre Ríos with the intention to get to Uruguay and then to exile in Montevideo. He managed to cross the Uruguay River aboard a flatboat, and traveled in direction of Tacuarembó, where was ambushed and arrested by a group of soldiers. He dies executed by order of General Manuel Oribe on January 1843 near Tacuarembó, Uruguay. Feliciano Canaveris possibly enlisted or was about to enlist in the army of General Fructuoso Rivera, serving in the ranks of the Unitarian army in Montevideo since 1839. He was promoted to the rank of Captain time after his death. His persecution and subsequent murder is cited in Rosas y sus opositores, a history book published by the journalist José Rivera Indarte.
Family
Feliciano Canaveris was baptized on June 8, 1813 by Manuel V. Erézcano Azcuénaga, presbyter of the Cathedral of Buenos Aires, being his godmother his aunt Encarnación Canaveris. Several members of his family were dedicated to the military career, including his brothers Juan Manuel Canaveris and José María Canaveris, who participated in the Argentine Civil War. His grandfather Juan de Canaveris was a Piedmontese colonial official, whose ancestors had inhabited various points of Western Europe and North Italy. His sister Patricia Canaveris goddaughter of Juan José Echeverría, was born on St. Patrick's Day, 1811. Through his mother Feliciano Canaveris was a descendant of Anton Denis, an Irish immigrant, born in Limerick, Munster, who had arrived in the Río de la Plata from Portugal in 1595. His mother Agustina Denis, died in 1825 in Buenos Aires, and his father José Canaveris in October 1837 in the same city. Feliciano Canaveris was a cousin of Francisco Crespo y Denis, an distinguished military officer, who participated in the Argentine War of Independence.
