Bartolomé Mitre
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
|
|
|
| Term of Office: | April 12, 1862— October 12, 1868 |
|---|---|
| Predecessor: | Juan E. Pedernera |
| Successor: | Domingo F. Sarmiento |
| Vice-president: | Marcos Paz |
| Date of Birth: | June 26, 1821 |
| Place of Birth: | Buenos Aires |
| Date of Death: | January 19, 1906 |
| Place of Death: | Buenos Aires |
| Profession: | Journalist |
| Political Party: | Liberal |
Bartolomé Mitre (June 26, 1821 – January 19, 1906) was an Argentine statesman, military figure, and author. He was the President of Argentina from 1862 to 1868.
As a liberal, he was an opponent of Juan Manuel de Rosas, and he was forced into exile where he worked as a soldier and journalist in Uruguay, Bolivia, Peru, and Chile.
Mitre returned to Argentina after the defeat of Rosas. He was a leader of the revolt of Buenos Aires against Justo José de Urquiza's federal system, and was appointed to important posts in the provincial government after Buenos Aires seceded from the Confederation.
Mitre was defeated by Urquiza in the civil war of 1859, and Buenos Aires reentered the Argentine confederation. In October 1862, Mitre was elected president of the republic, and national political unity was finally achieved; a period of internal progress and reform then commenced. During the War of the Triple Alliance, Mitre was initially named the head of the allied forces.
Mitre was also the founder of La Nación, one of South America's leading newspapers.
According to some of his critics, as a historian Mitre took several questionable actions, often ignoring key documents and events on purpose in his writings. This caused his student Adolfo Saldías to separate from him, and for future revisionist historians like José María Rosa to question the validity of his work altogether.
He also wrote poetry and fiction (Soledad: novela original). He translated Dante's La divina commedia (The Divine Comedy) into Spanish.
On his passing in 1906, he was interred in La Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires. January 19, 2006 marks the centenary of Mitre's death.
[edit] Bibliography
He ranks as one of Argentina's greatest writers. He wrote the best accounts of South America's wars of independence and published many works, amongst which are:
- Historia de Belgrano y de la independencia argentina (1857; fifth edition, four volumes, 1902)
- Historia de San Martín y de la emancipatión sud-americana (1869; third edition, six volumes, 1907)
- Rimas (new edition, 1890)
- Ulrich Schmidel, primer historiador del Rio de la Plata (1890)
There is an abridged translation of the Historia de San Martín, entitled The Emancipation of South America (London, 1893) by W. Pilling. Mitre's speeches were collected as Arengas (third edition, three volumes, 1902).
[edit] Publication
- J. J. Biedma, El Teniente General Bartolomé Mitre, in Bartolomé Mitre, Arengas, volume iii (Buenos Aires, 1902).
| Preceded by: Juan E. Pedernera |
President of Argentina 1862–1868 |
Succeeded by: Domingo Faustino Sarmiento |
