Domingo Faustino Sarmiento

Domingo Faustino Sarmiento was a teacher, journalist, and political combatant before becoming a diplomat and president. Born in San Juan in 1811, he acquired much of his education through reading and informal instruction. Political defeats repeatedly drove him into Chilean exile. There he taught, edited newspapers, and directed a normal school, treating education as a means of building republican institutions. His 1845 book Facundo combined a life of the caudillo Facundo Quiroga with an argument about Argentina's political and social divisions. ¹

Sarmiento's interest in the United States preceded his Washington appointment. On an earlier journey he visited Horace and Mary Mann and studied teacher training. Mary later translated Facundo into English and helped recruit American teachers for Argentina. The educational exchange outlasted his diplomatic tenure: sixty-five teachers arrived between 1869 and 1890. He also advocated professional opportunities for women in teaching. ²

He reached New York in May 1865 as Argentina's representative, accompanied by secretaries including Bartolomé Mitre y Vedia. In his departure letter to Secretary of State William Seward, dated 8 July 1868, he explained that he had studied administrative questions and the practical operation of republican institutions during his three years in the country. He arranged for Mitre y Vedia to take charge of the legation while he returned home. He emphasized friendly relations while acknowledging that relatively few official transactions had required contact with the American government. ³

Elected president while abroad, Sarmiento took office in October 1868 and served until 1874. His later career included another period directing Buenos Aires schools, a Senate seat for San Juan, a brief term as interior minister, and national educational administration. He continued publishing political and biographical works, including a life of his adopted son Dominguito, killed in the Paraguayan War. Sarmiento died in Asunción in September 1888. ¹