- published: 02 Jul 2015
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Juan Hipólito del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús Irigoyen Alem (Spanish pronunciation: [iˈpolito iɾiˈɣoʝen]; July 12, 1852 – July 3, 1933) was twice President of Argentina (from 1916 to 1922, and again from 1928 to 1930). His activism became the prime impetus behind the obtainment of universal (male) suffrage in Argentina in 1912. Known as “the father of the poor,” Yrigoyen presided over a rise in the standard of living of Argentina's working class together with the passage of a number of progressive social reforms, including improvements in factory conditions, regulation of working hours, compulsory pensions, and the introduction of a universally accessible public education system.
He was born in Buenos Aires, and worked as a school teacher before entering politics. In 1891 he co-founded the Radical Civic Union (Unión Cívica Radical), together with his uncle, Leandro Alem. Yrigoyen (he signed that way to distinguish himself from Bernardo de Irigoyen's political ideas) was popularly known as "el peludo" (the hairy armadillo) due to his introverted character and aversion to being seen in public. Following Alem's suicide in 1896, Hipólito Yrigoyen assumed sole leadership of the Radical Civic Union. It adopted a policy of intransigency, a position of total opposition to the regime known as "The Agreement". Established by electoral fraud, this was an agreed formula among the political parties of that time for alternating in power.