Rivadavia, Bernardino 1780-1845
Argentine politician

He was born in Buenos Aires and fought in the country's patriot militia which evicted the British in 1807. He supported the independence movement from Spain in 1810 and dominated the first revolutionary triumvirate in 1811. Greatly influenced by the reforms of Charles III of Spain and by the French radicals, and a convinced Benthamite, he initiated a torrent of legislation which decreed the end of the high courts (audiencia) and the slave trade, liberalized commerce and standardized the currency. When he returned to Argentina in 1821, after several years in Europe, he became a minister and propounded schemes to encourage immigration, abolished ecclesiastical privileges (fueros) and founded the University of Buenos Aires. His land law of 1824 established the system of landholding which is still in force. Elected President in 1826, he was forced to resign in the wake of the inconclusive conflict with Brazil and provincial reaction to his centralist constitution. He was exiled, and died in Paris.