Julio A. Roca

Julio A. Roca (1843-1914), Argentine general and president (1880-86 and 1898-1904). Born into a military family in San Miguel de Tucumán, he left school to fight in behalf of the Argentine Confederation and, later, in the Paraguayan War. As minister of war under President Nicolás Avellaneda, he subdued the Native Americans of the southern Pampas in 1879-80. Avellaneda then chose him as his successor. Roca introduced one legal currency throughout Argentina, settled boundary disputes with Brazil and Chile, and in later years served as minister of the interior and as ambassador to Brazil and France.