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Message:: [QUOTE="Billy Kingsley, post: 795283, member: 19456"]Here is my presentation. Enjoy this one guys because it will be my only one.  So far, the presentations have focused on the engraver...I am going to take a different approach, and focus on the engravee (which may be a word I came up with for this post).  One of the greatest things about Numismatics, be it coins, currency, tokens, whatever you may find, is the ability to learn about people and places that you may not have heard about before. That situation is the basis of this report. I purchased this note a few months back and in trying to figure out when it was issued, I learned a little about the man on the note.  Here is the note, Argentina's 100 Australes note of 1985-90. The note is undated. <img src="http://images51.fotki.com/v748/photos/4/348354/8057116/Argentina100a-vi.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> <img src="http://images51.fotki.com/v751/photos/4/348354/8057116/Argentina100b-vi.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> The subject of the note is Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, the seventh president of Argentina, serving from 1868-1874. <img src="http://images52.fotki.com/v734/photos/4/348354/7415554/Argentina100a-vi.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> Here is a photo of the man: (credit Wikipedia)<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Domingo_Sarmiento.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> He was born 2/15/1811 and died on 9/11/1888.  He had 14 siblings, but nine of them did not reach adulthood, he was the only male of the family to reach adulthood. He grew up very poor, to a veteran father and a weaver mother. He was taught to read at age four by his father and an uncle, he would spend much of his life reading, writing and teaching others to do the same. Another uncle was instrumental in bringing dictator Juan Manual de Rosas to power. Sarmiento would gain national acclaim, when, as a newspaper writer, he campainged against the dictator.  He spent much time as a teacher, both in his home of Argentina and in Chile, where he was exiled to multiple times because of his political beliefs. He founded multiple schools and his ideals on education were very modern, even forming a school for girls in 1840. He was also a dedicated writer, penning dozens of books on a wide variety of subjects. During 1845-1847, Sarmiento traveled to 12 different countries studying their education systems. Most important, in his opinion, was the United States of America, which he would strive to emulate while as president.  In 1855, after returning to Argentina from Chile, where had chosen to move to, he entered the political arena, first as a member of the municipal government, then as a senator, then as governer of San Juan, his home town. He made it law that all children had to go to school, and under his administration many new buildings for the public good were erected.  However, he soon came into conflict with another politician, and stepped down. He then ran for, but lost the presidency, and so he traveled to the USA again, this time as the Argentine Ambassidor. While here, he also further educated himself, earning a degree from the university of Michigan, where a bust of him still stands. There While he was in the USA, he was asked to run for president, which he accepted. This time, his bid was successfull. He officially became president on 10/12/1868. While as President, he had many progressive ideas, and worked to make Argentina similiar to what he considered enlightened USA and Europe, modeling the then modern Argentina on New England, Boston in particular.  One of his great causes was education, which he overhauled as much as he could, which was a substantial amount, as he established nearly 800 educational institutions. He also modernized the train system, the postal system, installed a telegraph system and conducted the first census of Argentina in 1869.  However, not all was good with Sarmiento. For one thing, he was a dedicated racist, with ideals to kill all black citizens of Argentina, or at least hopes that they would all die. He also led his country into war with Paraguay, (which saw his adopted son die in battle) and did little when there was a massive Yellow Fever epidemic. In fact, he was so unpoular, he survived an assasination attempt in August 1873. The country was near the brink of civil war. When his term ended, he did not attempt to run again.  After his unpopular term as president, he continued to serve in public capacity, mostly in the education realm although briefly as Interior Minister. He left Argentina in May of 1888, and died in September of the same year, ironically in Paraguay, of a heart attack.  However, despite his racist views, and his unpopular presidency, he is today regarded as the "Teacher of Latin America", and it is without doubt that his efforts in the field of education are matched throughout history by few, nor have many been as dedicated to the ideals of higher education then he was. Today, there are sculptures and states of him in the aforementioned University of Michigan, Brown University, Boston, Buenos Aires and there is a plaza that bears his name in Argentina, as well as appearing on multiple issues of Argentine currency, and has been honored with at least one commerative coin, issued in 1968 at the 80th anniversary of his death. Before I purchased this note, I had never heard of this man before, but now, thanks to numismatics, I can say that I now know exactly who he was, his ideals, his family, and his legacy, which is considerable! Sources:<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domingo_F._Sarmiento" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domingo_F._Sarmiento" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domingo_F._Sarmiento</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afro_Argentine#Domingo_F._Sarmiento" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afro_Argentine#Domingo_F._Sarmiento" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afro_Argentine#Domingo_F._Sarmiento</a>[/QUOTE]

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