Domingo Faustino Sarmiento

Domingo Faustino Sarmiento (February 15, 1811 – September 11, 1888) is an Argentine activist, intellectual, writer, statesman and the seventh President of Argentina.

His writing spans a wide range of genres and topics, from journalism to autobiography, to political philosophy and history.

He is a member of a group of intellectuals, known as the "Generation of 1837", who have a great influence on nineteenth-century Argentina.

He is particularly concerned with educational issues and was also an important influence on the region's literature.

Sarmiento grows up in a poor but politically active family that paves the way for much of his future accomplishments.

Between 1843 and 1850,he is frequently in exile, and writes in both Chile and in Argentina.

His greatest literary achievement is Facundo, a critique of Juan Manuel de Rosas, that Sarmiento writes while working for the newspaper El Progreso during his exile in Chile.

The book brings him far more than just literary recognition; he expends his efforts and energy on the war against dictatorships, specifically that of Rosas, and contrasts enlightened Europe—a world where, in his eyes, democracy, social services, and intelligent thought are valued—with the barbarism of the gaucho and especially the caudillos, the ruthless strongmen of nineteenth-century Argentina.

While president of Argentina from 1868 to 1874, Sarmiento champions intelligent thought—including education for children and women—and democracy for Latin America.

He also takes advantage of the opportunity to modernize and develop train systems, a postal system, and a comprehensive education system.

He spends many years in ministerial roles on the federal and state levels where he travels abroad and examines other education systems.

Sarmiento dies in Asunción, Paraguay, at the age of 77 from a heart attack.

He is buried in Buenos Aires.

Today, he is respected as a political innovator and writer.