Domingo Faustino Sarmiento was born February 15, 1811 in Argentina.  He is known as a hero because of his accomplishments as an educator, a politician, a journalist, and a writer.  During his presidency (1868-1874) in Argentina, student enrollment multiplied (from 30,000 to 100,000) and 140 public libraries were built.  This was a result of what Sarmiento learned while living in Chile, where he was the director and organizer of the first Normal School (a school for teachers) for teachers of private schools in Chile.  He also created a Normal School in Argentina.  Sarmiento wrote fifty books including biographies of his parents and Abraham Lincoln, many books on education, and extensively on the role of the military.  Sarmiento played such an important role for Argentina that Jose Marti, a Cuban revolutionary hero, called him the “true founder of the Argentine Republic.”

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Updated: 14 August 2007

http://abc.gov.ar/paginaescuela/0100JI0924/Sarmiento.htm