Plaza, Victorino de la (1840–1919)

Victorino de la Plaza (b. 2 November 1840; d. 2 October 1919), president of Argentina (1914–1916). De la Plaza, a native of Cachi, Salta, was a University of Buenos Aires-trained lawyer and a financier. He became president upon the death of Roque Sáenz Peña on 9 August 1914. He had been interim president since September 1913 and had also served for several shorter periods because of the president's ill health. He had been chosen for the vice presidency because of his support for the establishment of fair voting procedures, his ties to the political establishment, and his lack of clear identification with political factions. He had been active in government service, serving three presidents as a cabinet minister.

As president, de la Plaza faced two challenges: World War I and the voting reforms of Sáenz Peña. He maintained Argentine neutrality and attempted to meet a growing economic crisis by taking Argentina off the gold standard. Although not enthusiastic about the reformed electoral code or the Radical Party, he oversaw fair elections that resulted in a Radical victory. De la Plaza died in Buenos Aires.

See alsoArgentina: The Twentieth Century .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Jorge A. Mitre, "Presidencia de Victorino de la Plaza (su gestión presidencial)," in Academia Nacional De La Historia, Historia argentina contemporánea, vol. 1, sec. 2 (1956).

Jimena Sáenz, Entre dos centenarios, 1910–1916 (1976).

Additional Bibliography

Mayer, Jorge M. Victorino de la Plaza, 1840–1919: Un eje institucional. Buenos Aires: Academia Nacional de Derecho y Ciencias Sociales de Buenos Aires, 1995.

Vanossi, Jorge Reinaldo. Victorino de la Plaza. Buenos Aires: Consejo Argentino para las Relaciones Internacionales, 2004.

Weinmann, Ricardo. Argentina en la Primera Guerra Mundial: Neutralidad, transición política y continuismo económico. Buenos Aires: Editorial Biblos, 1994.

                                     Joel Horowitz