Domingo Faustino Sarmiento

Domingo Faustino Sarmiento
Sarmiento in c. 1874
7th President of Argentina
In office 12 October 1868 – 11 October 1874
Vice President	Adolfo Alsina
Preceded by	Bartolomé Mitre
Succeeded by	Nicolás Avellaneda
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Worship
In office 6 September 1879 – 9 October 1879
President	Nicolás Avellaneda
Preceded by	Manuel Montes de Oca
Succeeded by	Lucas González
Minister of the Interior
In office 29 August 1879 – 9 October 1879
President	Nicolás Avellaneda
Preceded by	Bernardo de Irigoyen
Succeeded by	Benjamín Zorrilla
Governor of San Juan
In office 3 January 1862 – 9 April 1864
Preceded by	Francisco Díaz
Succeeded by	Santiago Lloveras
Personal details
Born	15 February 1811 San Juan, Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata
Died	11 September 1888(1888-09-11) (aged 77) Asunción, Paraguay
Political party	Liberal
Spouse	Benita Martínez Pastoriza ​ ​ (m. 1847; sep. 1857)​
Domestic partner(s)	Aurelia Vélez Sársfield (1857–1888)
Children	Ana Faustina[a] Domingo Fidel[b]
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	Argentina
Branch/service	Argentine Army
Years of service	1834–1863
Rank	Divisional General
Philosophy career Preview warning: Page using Template:Infobox philosopher with unknown parameter "influences" Preview warning: Page using Template:Infobox philosopher with unknown parameter "influenced"

Domingo Faustino Sarmiento (Spanish: [doˈmiŋɡo saɾˈmjento]; 15 February 1811 – 11 September 1888) was an Argentine activist, intellectual, writer, statesman and President of Argentina. His writing spanned a wide range of genres and topics, from journalism to autobiography, to political philosophy and history. He was a member of a group of intellectuals, known as the Generation of 1837, who had a great influence on 19th-century Argentina. He was particularly concerned with educational issues and was also an important influence on the region's literature.

Sarmiento grew up in a poor but politically active family that paved the way for many of his future accomplishments. Between 1843 and 1850, he was frequently in exile, and wrote in both Chile and in Argentina. His greatest literary achievement was Facundo, a critique of Juan Manuel de Rosas, that Sarmiento wrote while working for the newspaper El Progreso during his exile in Chile. The book brought him far more than just literary recognition; he expended his efforts and energy on the war against dictatorships, specifically that of Rosas, and contrasted enlightened Europe—a world where, in his eyes, democracy, social services, and intelligent thought were valued—with the barbarism of the gaucho and especially the caudillo, the ruthless strongmen of nineteenth-century Argentina.

While president of Argentina from 1868 to 1874, Sarmiento championed intelligent thought—including education for children and women—and democracy for Latin America. He also took advantage of the opportunity to modernize and develop train systems, a postal system, and a comprehensive education system. He spent many years in ministerial roles on the federal and state levels where he travelled abroad and examined other education systems.

Sarmiento died in Asunción, Paraguay, at the age of 77 from a heart attack. He was buried in Buenos Aires. Today, he is respected as a political innovator and writer. Miguel de Unamuno considered him among the greatest writers of Castilian prose.^[4]

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