Roberto María Ortiz

Short Biography

Jaime Gerardo Roberto Marcelino María Ortiz Lizardi (September 24, 1886 – July 15, 1942) was President of Argentina from February 20, 1938 to June 27, 1942.Ortiz was born in Buenos Aires. As a student at the University of Buenos Aires, he participated in an unsuccessful revolution in 1905. In 1909 he graduated from the university and became a lawyer.He became active in the Radical Civic Union and was elected to the Argentine National Congress in 1920. He served as minister of public works from 1925 to 1928. He supported the revolution of 1930 and served as treasury minister from 1935 to 1937.In the presidential elections of 1937, he was the official government candidate and won, though the opposition accused him of participating in fraud, as irregularities were widespread. Ortiz never denied those charges but once he took office he tried to make Argentine politics more open and truly democratic. Soon after becoming president, Ortiz became seriously ill with diabetes and on July 3, 1940, he delegate his powers to vice-president Ramón Castillo. He was pro-Ally but because of opposition in the army, he didn't break relations with the Axis. He resigned a few weeks before his death.