José de San Martín
José de San Martín was the military liberator of the southern cone of South America, whose campaigns freed Argentina, Chile, and Peru from Spanish rule through methodical strategic planning. Born in Argentina and trained as an officer in the Spanish army — where he fought against Napoleon in the Peninsular War — San Martín returned to South America in 1812 with professional military skills unusual among independence commanders. His greatest achievement was the crossing of the Andes in January 1817 with the Army of the Andes, followed immediately by the decisive victory at Chacabuco, which liberated Chile. He entered Lima in 1821 and proclaimed Peruvian independence. His meeting with Bolívar at Guayaquil in July 1822 — whose content was never publicly disclosed — ended with San Martín's complete withdrawal from the independence struggle. He spent his final decades in exile in Europe, dying in Boulogne-sur-Mer in 1850, a figure of dignity and deliberate self-effacement.
- Lived: 1778 CE – 1850 CE
- Nationality: Argentine
- Roles: Military Commander, General, Revolutionary
