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(1811–88), Argentine president (1868–74) and man of letters, one of the most illustrious individuals of 19th-century South America. He was born in San Juan and was largely self-educated. In the civil war that raged in Argentina in the late 1820s, Sarmiento fought on the liberal side, and when Juan Manuel de Rosas established his dictatorship in 1835, he went into exile in Chile. There he engaged in journalism and education and published his Facundo (1845), an essay that has become a classic of Argentine literature. In 1842 he was appointed director of a new teacher-training institution in Santiago, and three years later the Chilean government sent him to Europe and the U.S. to study educational systems. After the fall of Rosas in 1852, he returned to Argentina. Sarmiento was Argentine minister to the U.S. from 1864 to 1868, and at the end of his tenure he was elected president. His administration was vigorous and progressive—expanding trade, improving transportation, promoting immigration, and greatly enhancing education. In his post-presidential years he returned to his main interest, education. As director of schools in Buenos Aires, he reorganized the school system.
An article from Funk & Wagnalls® New Encyclopedia. © 2006 World Almanac Education Group. A WRC Media Company. All rights reserved. Except as otherwise permitted by
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