Bartolomé Mitre

Born June 26, 1821, in Buenos Aires; died there Jan. 19, 1906. Argentine statesman, soldier, historian, and writer.

Beginning in 1839, Mitre fought in the civil wars against J. M. de Rosas. He emigrated after the end of the military campaign and between 1846 and 1851 lived in Bolivia, Peru, and Chile and worked as a journalist. Upon his return to his homeland, Mitre was elected to the legislative assembly of Buenos Aires. An advocate of the centralization of the country’s administration, he urged national unification. In 1859, Mitre took command of the armed forces of Buenos Aires in the fight against the army of the Argentine Confederation. Mitre’s victory at Pa von on Sept. 14, 1861, led to the disintegration of the confederation and to the formation of a unified Argentine republic.

Mitre was president of Argentina from 1862 to 1868. He helped Great Britain strengthen its position in Argentina by granting concessions to British capital for the construction of railroads. Together with Brazil and Uruguay, he waged a predatory war against Paraguay from 1865 to 1870. Between 1868 and 1874 he was first a senator of Argentina and then ambassador to Paraguay and Brazil. He retired from political life in 1875. Mitre is the founder of liberal positivist Argentine historiography.