Ricardo Balbín
In a baggy suit and looking to his right in Plaza de los Dos Congresos, this former leader of the Radical Party and four-time candidate for Argentina’s presidency died in 1981. He made clear his deep commitment to democracy in Argentina when he stated, prior to an election that he lost to Juan Domingo Perón: “he who wins governs, and he who loses helps.” (Plaza de los Dos Congresos)
Alfredo Palacios
A few metres from Balbín, in the same square, there's a tribute to Latin America's first socialist parliamentary representative. Like Balbín, Palacios was never president and stood in opposition to the hegemony of the Peronist party. This sculpture was designed by the caricaturist Hermenegildo Sábat based only on Palacios' face, moustache and bow tie and sculpted by Jorge Bianchi. It was inaugurated in the year 2013. (Plaza de los Dos Congresos)
Carlos Pellegrini
In Avenida Alvear, a few metres from the intersection with 9 de Julio is the small square plazoleta Carlos Pellegrini where there is a monument depicting the former president (1890-92) sat accompanied by three figures representing the Nation (in the centre), industry and commerce (on either side). Carlos Pellegrini was the founder of Buenos Aires’ elite Jockey Club, which coincidentally moved to a building opposite the monument to its founder in the 1960s, almost 50 years after the monument of carrara marble and bronze was inaugurated. (Plaza Pellegrini)
Marcelo T. de Alvear
The former president Marcelo T. de Alvear (1922-1928), an important figure in the history of the Radical Party, is immortalised in the heart of the neighbourhood of Recoleta. The equestrian statue was created by Gerson Irala based on a photograph and is located metres from a monument to Marcel T’s father, Torcuato de Alvear, who was the first mayor of Buenos Aires. (Av. Del Libertador 1201)
Monument to the Fallen
The first of several military coups in Argentina took place on September 6 1930. This sculpture by Agustín Riganelli of a mother with her child in her arms is a tribute to the victims who died in the event. (Junín 1849)
Eva Perón
This statue of the former first lady was installed on the site of the former presidential residence, Palacio Unzué, in 1999. The legend at the foot of the representation of Evita reads: “she knew to dignify women, protect infancy and shelter old age, giving up all honours". (Intersection of Av. Del Libertador and Austria)
Juan Domingo Perón
This sculpture of the three-time president (1946-1952, 1952-1955, and 1973-1974) was made by Carlos Benavídez, a sculptor from the city of Córdoba. The five-metre tall monument shows Perón wearing a suit and tie, in his characteristic position with his arms in the air. The friezes at the sides show children, housewives, workers, elderly people, teachers and rural field hands. (Intersection of Av. Paseo Colón and av. Belgrano)
Lisandro de la Torre
In 1973 it was time to recognise an opposition representative from the 1930s: a man who participated in the foundation of the Radical Party and was almost killed during a session of parliament – the bullet missed him and killed a fellow Radical. (Av. Roque Sáenz Peña 700)
Roque Sáenz Peña
Planned in 1923 and inaugurated by the conservative president Agustín P. Justo, this monument commemorates a former president who was the most important figure in promoting in Argentina a law introducing universal, anonymous and obligatory male suffrage. The piece was made in Paris by Fioravanti. Present at the inauguration was Roque Sáenz Peña’s son-in-law, Carlos Saavedra Lamas, who was Argentina’s minister for foreign affairs at the time. (Intersection of Av. Roque Sáenz Peña and Florida)
Julio Argentino Roca
Admired and despised in almost equal measure, Roca was president of Argentina twice (1880-1886 and 1898-1904). A commission was created in 1935 to oversee the installation of what remains one of the most imposing monuments in the city. It measures 14 metres and has two authors: the base is the work of Alejandro Bustillo and the equestrian statue is the work of Uruguayan sculptor Luis Zorrilla. (Intersection of Av. Pres. Julio Argentino Roca and Perú)
Monument to Graft
On the Public Works building overlooking the wide Avenida 9 de Julio, eyes are usually drawn to the artist Daniel Santoro's huge murals of Evita Perón on two sides of the building, once facing north and the other facing south along the avenue, but look at the corner of the building and you'll find another peculiar piece of sculpture: the figure of a man who appears to be holding out his hand to receive something while his eyes look the other way to check no one is coming. It's believed that the work's creator, Alberto Belgrano Blanco, wanted to represent the rampant bribery characteristic of the time (1930-43). (Av. 9 de Julio 1925)
Hipólito Yrigoyen
Walking with his hand on his heart, the former Radical Party president (1916-1922 and 1928-1930) is commemorated in a stature that was installed on October 12 1972. Yrigoyen broke with Argentina’s conservative hegemony in the first democratic elections held with universal, obligatory anonymous male suffrage. His low profile didn’t keep him from receiving this recognition in the Plaza de Tribunales. (Intersection of Tucumán and Libertad)
Juan Lavalle
Metres from Yrigoyen, Argentina’s independence hero Juan Lavalle gives his name to a square that he’s inhabited since 1887. The statue was made by Italian sculptor Pietro Costa and it remains to this day the only tower statue in Buenos Aires. A descendent of Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés, Lavalle crossed the Andes with José de San Martín to free Chile from Spain in the wars of independence but is also remembered for the assassination of another hero of Argentina’s independence, Manuel Dorrego during the country’s civil war. (Plaza Lavalle)
Juan Manuel de Rosas
Governor of the Argentine Confederation between 1829-1832 and 1835-1852, a period now referred to as the “Rosas epoch”, Rosas, in a period of political instability, imposed an administration characterised by strict order and tax increases. He didn’t get a statue until 1999. It’s located opposite what was his residence in Buenos Aires. (Av. Del Libertador and Av. Sarmiento)
Domingo Sarmiento
In 1900, 12 years after his death, this statue of the former president Sarmiento was made in by the great sculptor Auguste Rodin, although some claim he didn’t complete all the work himself. The piece generated controversy at the time it was inaugurated because it was installed on the location of the former bedroom of the residence of Juan Manuel de Rosas, a staunch political opponent. (Intersection of Av. Del Libertador and Av. Sarmiento)
Justo José de Urquiza
Still on the same lands that belonged to Juan Manuel de Rosas is the very man who defeated him on February 3 1852 at the Battle of Caseros, which is depicted on the base of this monument. Urquiza became the first president of the Argentine Confederation. (Intersection of Av. Figueroa Alcorta and Sarmiento)
Bernardino Rivadavia
More than 50,000 people turned out at the installation of this mausoleum in the centre of Plaza Miserere. Rivadavia was the first president of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (1826). The monument includes a statue of a young and peppy Rivadavia guards over his own mortal remains, along with a statue of Moses symbolising wisdom. (Intersection of Av. Pueyrredón and Bartolomé Mitre).