Founding of University of Buenos Aires

The University of Buenos Aires is Argentina's largest and most prestigious public university. It was created during the government of Martin Rodriguez, under the guidance of his minister Bernardino Rivadavia, a few years after independence, to train professionals and officials for the new country. Its first rector was the priest and doctor Antonio Saenz. The university became known for the reform movement that began at Cordoba in 1918 and spread across Latin America, promoting autonomy, student participation and academic freedom. Several Argentine Nobel laureates in science studied or worked there, including Bernardo Houssay, Luis Federico Leloir and Cesar Milstein. Its faculties are spread across the city, and admission has long been free for citizens.

Open on the timeline