Gral. José de San Martín (1778 - 1850)
THE MYTH
His campaigns were fundamental in the independence of Argentina, Chile and Perú from Spanish ruling. Later on, military governments turned him into a saint and used his image for their own benefit. The hero became a bronze figure dressed in an army uniform.
However, the Liberator was much more than a soldier. He was a tenacious and methodical man, a fighter of noble values and European liberal ideas, and a defender of human rights and equality principles. He refused all honours and died in poverty.












