Subject

Soldier and statesman. Born in present-day Argentina. An officer in the Spanish army but then a major player in the battle for independence from Spain for Argentina in 1812 and Chile in 1818. He fought some battles for Peru but Simon Bolivar was also there so they arranged to meet, to avoid treading on each other's toes, one presumes. What happened at the meeting is unknown but they didn't come out best buddies. The outcome was that San Martin left Peru for Bolivar to liberate, was granted a pension and came to Europe in 1824: England, Brussels and then France where he lived from 1830 until his death.