Ricardo Luis Alfonsín (born 2 November 1951) is an Argentine lawyer, academic and politician prominent in the

Radical Civic Union The Radical Civic Union ( es, Unión Cívica Radical, UCR) is a centrist and social-liberal political party in Argentina. It has been ideologically heterogeneous, ranging from social liberalism to social democracy. The UCR is a member of the ...

. His father,

Raúl Alfonsín Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín (12 March 1927 – 31 March 2009) was an Argentine lawyer and statesman who served as President of Argentina from 10 December 1983 to 8 July 1989. He was the first democratically elected president after more than ...

, was the

President of Argentina The president of Argentina ( es, Presidente de Argentina), officially known as the president of the Argentine Nation ( es, Presidente de la Nación Argentina), is both head of state and head of government of Argentina. Under the national cons ...

from 1983 to 1989. Since 2019, he has been Argentina's ambassador to Spain.

Early life and education

Ricardo Luis Alfonsín was born in

Chascomús Chascomús is the principal city in Chascomús Partido in eastern Buenos Aires Province of Argentina, located south of the capital Buenos Aires. In 2001, the city had a population of 30,670. History The city was founded as a fort (the ''Fortí ...

son of

María Lorenza Barreneche María Lorenza Barreneche Iriarte (July 3, 1926 – January 5, 2016) was an Argentine public figure and wife of the late President Raúl Alfonsín. She held the position of First Lady of Argentina from 1983 until 1989. Barreneche was born in 19 ...

and

; the latter was at the time a local lawyer and councilman active in the centrist

(UCR). Ricardo Alfonsín earned a degree in education at the Chascomús

Teachers College A normal school or normal college is an institution created to train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high school level, turni ...

, and taught

civics Civics is the study of the rights and obligations of citizens in society. The term derives from the Latin word ''civicus'', meaning "relating to a citizen". The term relates to behavior affecting other citizens, particularly in the context of ...

in local secondary schools, later earning a law degree at the

University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires ( es, Universidad de Buenos Aires, UBA) is a public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Established in 1821, it is the premier institution of higher learning in the country and one of the most prestigi ...

. He married Cecilia Plorutti, and the couple had four children during the 1980s; though his father had been elected president in

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

, they avoided involvement in politics at the time.

Political career

He first actively entered politics in 1993, and was elected delegate to the UCR leadership convention, during which his father was returned to the party's presidency after being turned out in 1991. He first rose to elected office in 1999, as a Buenos Aires Provincial Deputy, and remained in the post until 2003. The UCR in tatters following the 2001 resignation of President

Fernando de la Rúa Fernando de la Rúa (15 September 19379 July 2019) was an Argentine politician and a member of the Radical Civic Union (UCR) political party who served as President of Argentina from 10 December 1999 to 21 December 2001. De la Rúa was born in ...

, Alfonsín was named head of the party's foreign policy office following the end of his term in the legislature. On 7 September 2004, his youngest daughter, Amparo, suffered a deep cut from broken glass at the parochial school she attended in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the Capital city, capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata ...

, and lost her life at age 15. The tragedy led Alfonsín to retire from politics for a time, though in 2007, he made a surprise bid for the office of

Governor of Buenos Aires Province The Governor of Buenos Aires Province ( es, Gobernador de la Provincia de Buenos Aires) is a citizen of the Buenos Aires Province of Argentina, holding the office of governor for the corresponding period. The governor is elected alongside a vi ...

, naming veteran actor Luis Brandoni as his running mate. The move was unconventional because the UCR, on which ticket he ran, had endorsed independent candidate

Roberto Lavagna Roberto Lavagna (born 24 March 1942) is an Argentine economist and politician who was Minister of Economy and Production from April 27, 2002 until November 28, 2005. Despite the fact that he only garnered 6% of the votes in 2019 presidential e ...

in the 2007 presidential race, and Lavagna, in turn, backed Congressman

Jorge Sarghini Jorge Emilio Sarghini (born 11 June 1953) is an Argentine economist and politician. Historically a member of the Justicialist Party, Sarghini has served in a number of political posts throughout his career, most notably as a member and president ...

for governor. Ultimately, none of the three won their respective races. Alfonsín lost his father on 31 March 2009, when three days of national mourning were declared. A month earlier, he formed an alliance with former fellow UCR lawmaker Margarita Stolbizer (who had established her own party, GEN) and accepted the second spot in the GEN/UCR

party list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can ...

ahead of the June 28, 2009 mid-term elections. The list came in third in the Province of Buenos Aires, though it secured enough votes to elect both to the Lower House of Congress, where they would be seated on 10 December. As part of a compromise with the ruling

Front for Victory The Front for Victory ( es, Frente para la Victoria, FPV) was a centre-left Peronist electoral alliance in Argentina, and is formally a faction of the Justicialist Party. Former presidents Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner w ...

caucus (representing

Kirchnerism Kirchnerism ( es, Kirchnerismo ) is an Argentine political movement based on populist ideals formed by the supporters of Néstor Kirchner and his wife Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who consecutively served as Presidents of Argentina. Altho ...

), the latter would retain the Presidency of the Lower House, and Alfonsín was elected 1st Vice President of the body on 4 December. Alfonsín clinched his party's nomination for the 2011 presidential elections when Senator

Ernesto Sanz Ernesto Sanz (born 9 December 1956) is a former Argentine politician of the Radical Civic Union and one of the founders of Cambiemos. He served in the Argentine Senate representing Mendoza Province from 2003 to 2015. Early life and education Sa ...

withdrew on 28 April. The Civic and Social Agreement alliance with GEN and the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...

was broken in June, so he endorsed the

Federal Peronism Federal Peronism ( es, Peronismo Federal), also known as Dissident Peronism ( es, Peronismo Disidente) and Menemism ( es, Menemismo), are the informal names given to a conservative political alliance between Justicialist Party figures, curren ...

candidate

Francisco de Narváez Francisco de Narváez Steuer (born 22 September 1953 in Bogotá), known as El Colorado or Pancho, is a Colombian-born naturalized Argentine businessman, politician who ran for governor of Buenos Aires Province on the Unión PRO ballot in the 2007 ...

for

Governor of Buenos Aires The Governor of Buenos Aires Province ( es, Gobernador de la Provincia de Buenos Aires) is a citizen of the Buenos Aires Province of Argentina, holding the office of governor for the corresponding period. The governor is elected alongside a vi ...

and appointed former Central Bank President Javier González Fraga as running mate. They placed third with 11% of the vote. On September 8, 2014, his list 27 won in internal elections the leadership of the Buenos Aires radicalism after triumphing against Daniel Salvador's 2015 list from 59.01% to 40.99% (Salvador had already held the presidency of the Provincial Committee UCR 2008-2010). After the victory Alfonsín announced that he would resist the agreement with the PRO since he wanted to maintain the Frente Amplio UNEN. Between 2014 and 2016 he was accompanied on the Committee: Héctor Luis Baldo as vice president, Ricardo Sánchez as general secretary and Graciela San Martín as treasurer.

References

External links

Ricardo Alfonsín 2011

Biography by CIDOB
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alfonsin, Ricardo 1951 births Living people Argentine people of Basque descent Argentine people of Galician descent Argentine people of German descent Argentine people of Welsh descent Argentine people of Falkland Islands descent People from Chascomús University of Buenos Aires alumni 20th-century Argentine lawyers Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies elected in Buenos Aires Province Members of the Buenos Aires Province Chamber of Deputies Candidates for President of Argentina Radical Civic Union politicians Children of presidents of Argentina Ambassadors of Argentina to Spain