ABSTRACT
Carlos Pellegrini was born in Buenos Aires on 11 October 1846 and died on 17 July 1906. His studies were carried out in Buenos Aires, and culminated in a doctoral degree in Law in 1869. His professional career revolved around economic matters, which would interest him for the rest of his life. His career started in 1868 in the exchequer; in 1872 he was elected deputy to the congress of the province of Buenos Aires and in 1873, deputy to the National Congress. After performing his duties as minister and vice-president of the nation, on 6 August 1890 he became president of the republic, with the collaboration of Vicente Fidel López as minister of the exchequer. On 12 October 1892, Pellegrini handed over the presidency to Luis Sáenz Peña, but he continued participating in the public life of his country, be it in economic missions in Europe and the United States or as national senator, until his death. For the study of Pellegrini’s doctrine one should resort to primary sources where his speeches and writings can be found (Carranza 1897; Muro 1910; Rivero Astengo 1941) and to studies done on his ideas (Newton 1965; Cárcamo 1971). There are two important studies carried out by members of the Argentine Academy of Economic Science: the first one done by Alfredo Labougle (1957) on the subject of the ideas and works of Carlos Pellegrini, and the second one, by Nicolás Repetto (1961), on Pellegrini’s ideas on the topic of human relations in a labour context. Besides, there are also a few more works that will become mandatory readings for those interested in Pellegrini’s ideas (Oca Balda 1942; Cuccorese 1985-6; Segovia 1989).
