By Guido Minerbi.

For the Herald.

The balding gentleman wonders if many in Buenos Aires recall what this acronym stands for, other than it brings to mind the railway born as FCO (Ferro Carril Oeste), whose terminal is in Plaza Once.

The FCO was eventually renamed after Argentina's seventh constitutional president, Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, and hence the acronym. It might be worth to probe further and ask if there is a monument honoring him abroad. Very few would know! Indeed there is one, and not so small to go unnoticed: 3 metres high. Created by a young woman sculptor, Yvette Compagnion, a student at the "Ernesto de la Cárcova" School of Fine Arts, it was inaugurated in 1973. At the foot of the monument you can read: "Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, 1811-1888. President of Argentina, Diplomat, Writer, Father of the Argentine Educational System and Friend of the American People".

The description fits him but is not exhaustive. A few more words might do him justice: politician, activist, soldier, teacher, tireless traveller, exile and, above all, journalist. Sarmiento was - first and foremost - an active, aggressive, passionate, controversial journalist. The monument was donated by the Argentine Republic to the City of Boston and stands at Commonwealth Avenue between Hereford and Gloucester streets. Sarmiento, New England -and Boston in particular- are intimately related.

It was from there that he brought to Argentina 65 US grade school teachers in 1869 to assist him in setting up our elementary education system: no small task, considering that these ladies spoke not a word of Spanish. Yet, as the saying goes, "where there's a will, there's a way".

Thanks to his vision, the Law of Public Education was passed in 1884, making elementary education compulsory and free for all. Sarmiento's merits did not go unnoticed. In 1943, the day of his passing -another sad 9/11- was unanimously designated "Teachers Day" throughout South America at an Education Congress in Panamá. Years later, Governor Michael Dukakis adopted it as "Teachers Day" in the State of Massachusetts too. A controversial public figure, three times exiled, Sarmiento has both friends and foes to this very day, yet no one denies the deep imprint he left in this country's educational system.

Our friend was unable to ascertain the authenticity of an a-necdote attributed to him, but even if it were not totally authentic, it certainly fits his personality. He is quoted as having said that the only anagram possible in Spanish, using all the letters of "argentino", is... "ignorante". True or not, something is beyond question: he did a lot to raise this country from ignorance, and that is no small achievement!