Domingo Faustino Sarmiento

Domingo Faustino Sarmiento (15 February 1811 – 11 September 1888) was an Argentine politician, writer, teacher, journalist, military officer, and statesman. He served as President of Argentina from 1868 to 1864.

He is considered a great Castilian prose writer. He collaborated both in public education and in the scientific progress of his country.

Biography
Birth and family

He was born on February 15, 1811, in a house in the Carrascal neighborhood, one of the poorest neighborhoods in the city of San Juan, capital of the current province of the same name, the son of José Clemente Cecilio Quiroga Sarmiento and Paula Zoila Albarracín Irrazábal. His baptismal name was "Faustino Valentín Quiroga Sarmiento." 

The names were given to him by the saints of that name, Saint Valentine and Saint Faustino, the latter of which was the name of his birth. However, neither his family nor his friends called him "Valentín." According to some sources, the name "Domingo" was later given to him by his father's house, and it was traditional for many members of his family to bear or use it. This name did not appear on his birth certificate.

Presidency of Argentina

Sarmiento was proposed as a candidate for the Presidency of Argentina by a group of Argentine politicians, at the initiative of Colonel Lucio V. Mansilla. While in the United States, he was elected to the position in the national elections of April 1868, and assumed office on October 12, 1868. 

Sarmiento's presidency was the second of Argentina's historic presidencies. These historic or founding presidencies of the modern Argentine state had three clear objectives or goals: "nation, constitution, and liberty." The nation was understood as the definitive union of the Argentine provinces as an entity superior to its component parts. 

The Constitution was understood as the basis of the rights of individuals and power. Liberty was conceived as the principle of liberalism that gave way to "civilization" and relegated "barbarism."

Death

Sarmiento died in Asunción, Paraguay, at the age of 77 from a heart attack. He was buried in Buenos Aires.

 References

Other websites





Category:1811 births
Category:1888 deaths
Category:Presidents of Argentina
Category:Argentine writers
Category:Argentine military people