16 Facts About Pablo Riccheri

Pablo Riccheri was an Argentine army officer and minister of war during the second administration of president Julio Roca.

Pablo Riccheri enrolled at the National War College on a scholarship, and graduated with honors in 1879 as a second lieutenant.

Pablo Riccheri subsequently completed higher studies at the Royal Military Academy of Belgium, in Brussels.

Pablo Riccheri was promoted to captain and returned to Argentina in 1886.

Pablo Riccheri was named director of the European bureau of the Argentine Armaments Commission in 1890 and of the Technical Commission on Armaments in 1895, in which capacity he purchased a large shipment of new Mauser rifles and cannons for 18 artillery batteries, and had a 400 kilometres rail line to Neuquen built for the Argentine Army.

Pablo Riccheri was named colonel, and in 1898 returned to Argentina as Director General of the National War Arsenal.

Pablo Riccheri married Dolores Murature in 1901; she was the granddaughter of Commodore Jose Felix Murature, a hero of the Cisplatine War of the 1820s.

Pablo Riccheri's tenure was marked by ongoing efforts to modernize the Argentine Armed Forces amid tensions in Argentina-Chile relations resulting from the Beagle and Puna de Atacama disputes.

Pablo Riccheri supported proposed military action against neighboring Chile over ongoing border disputes.

Pablo Riccheri was promoted to the rank of brigadier general in 1904 and retired from his post as War Minister upon the end of President Roca's term in October.

Pablo Riccheri served briefly as Director of the National War College between October 1904 and January 1905.

Pablo Riccheri again served as Army Chief of Staff and was promoted to the rank of major general in 1910.

Pablo Riccheri believed the military should remain a disinterested party in Argentine politics.

Pablo Riccheri nevertheless lent his support in 1909 to UCR leader Hipolito Yrigoyen's call for universal male suffrage and the secret ballot.

Pablo Riccheri was honored abroad, receiving the Order of the Red Eagle, merit badges from Chile and France, and an appointment as Grand Officer of the Order of the Crown.

Pablo Riccheri died in Buenos Aires in 1936 and was buried with the highest military honors in La Recoleta Cemetery.