Eduardo Ernesto Lonardi Doucet (; September 15, 1896 – March 22, 1956) was an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

and served as de facto president from September 23 to November 13, 1955.

Biography

Lonardi was born on September 15, 1896. His father, Eduardo Policarpo Lonardi Monti was born in Ospitaletto (

Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...

), while his mother, Blanca Delia Doucet Santa Ana, was from

Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city, located northwest of Buenos Aires on the west bank of the Paraná River, is the third-most populous city in the ...

. Lonardi was appointed

military attaché A military attaché or defence attaché (DA),Defence Attachés
''Geneva C ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

during the presidency of Ramón Castillo in 1942, shortly afterward he was declared "persona non grata" by the Chilean government on accusations of espionage. Returning to Argentina, he participated in the coup that overthrew Castillo. He then was appointed military attaché to

Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

around 1946 where he stayed for a few years. He then permanently returned to Argentina.

President of Argentina

Eduardo Lonardi, a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

, assumed leadership of the ''

Revolución Libertadora The ''Revolución Libertadora'' (; ''Liberating Revolution'') as it named itself, was the civic-military dictatorship that ruled the Argentine Republic after overthrowing President Juan Domingo Perón, shutting down the National Congress of Ar ...

'' junta that overthrew

Juan Perón Juan Domingo Perón (, , ; 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine military officer and Statesman (politician), statesman who served as the History of Argentina (1946-1955), 29th president of Argentina from 1946 to Revolución Libertad ...

on September 16, 1955. He was greeted by chants of ''Cristo Vence'' ("Christ is Victorious") when arriving in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

. Favoring a transition with "neither victors nor vanquished", his conciliatory approach was deemed too soft by the liberal faction of the armed forces, who deposed him less than two months into his de facto presidency and replaced him with hard-liner Pedro Aramburu.

Later years and death

He went to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to receive cancer treatment. He returned to Argentina and died on 22 March 1956 from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

Notes

References

1896 births 1956 deaths Military personnel from Buenos Aires Argentine people of Italian descent 20th-century presidents of Argentina Presidents of Argentina Argentine generals Argentine spies Leaders who took power by coup Leaders ousted by a coup Deaths from cancer in Argentina Burials at La Recoleta Cemetery {{Argentina-mil-bio-stub