Alberdi, Juan Bautista [key], 1810–84, Argentine political philosopher, patriot, and diplomat. He opposed Juan Manuel de Rosas, and after 1838 he spent years of exile in Uruguay, Chile, and in Europe writing against Rosas. After the overthrow of Rosas by Justo José de Urquiza (1852), Alberdi served on a number of diplomatic missions. His most important work, Bases y puntos de partida para la organización política de la república argentina, a masterpiece of political science, was published in 1852. Many of the suggestions contained in it were incorporated into the Argentine constitution of 1853. After Urquiza was defeated (1861), Alberdi settled in Paris and wrote political tracts against Bartolomé Mitre and Domingo Faustino Sarmiento.
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