Ítalo Argentino Luder (31 December 1916 – 25 May 2008) was an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

Justicialist Party The Justicialist Party (, ; abbr. PJ) is a major political party in Argentina, and the largest branch within Peronism. Following the 2023 presidential election, it has been the largest party in the opposition against President Javier Milei. Fo ...

politician. As provisional president of the

Argentine Senate The Honorable Senate of the Argentine Nation () is the upper house of the National Congress of Argentina. Overview The National Senate was established by the Argentine Confederation on July 29, 1854, pursuant to Articles 46 to 54 of the 185 ...

, Luder served as the

acting President An acting president is a person who temporarily fills the role of a country's president when the incumbent president is unavailable (such as by illness or visiting abroad) or when the post is vacant (such as for death Death is the en ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

from 13 September 1975 until 16 October 1975, deputizing for

Isabel Perón Isabel Martínez de Perón (, born María Estela Martínez Cartas; 4 February 1931) is an Argentine politician who served as the 41st president of Argentina from 1974 to 1976. She was one of the List of elected and appointed female heads of s ...

. Luder was also the Justicialist Party's 1983 presidential candidate, a National Deputy, one of

Carlos Menem Carlos Saúl Menem (2 July 1930 – 14 February 2021) served as the 50th president of Argentina for ten years, from 1989 to 1999. He identified as Peronism, Peronist, serving as President of the Justicialist Party for 13 years (from 1990 to 200 ...

's defense ministers, and Argentina's ambassador to France.

Background and earlier life

Luder was born in

Rafaela Rafaela is a city in Argentina, located in the central-west region of the Santa Fe Province. It serves as the head of the Castellanos Department and is the third most populous and significant urban center in the province, following Rosario, Santa ...

Santa Fe Province The Invincible Province of Santa Fe (, , lit. "Holy Faith") is a Provinces of Argentina, province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco Province, Chaco (divided by the 2 ...

. He enrolled at his province's

National University of the Littoral The National University of the Littoral (, UNL) is a public university in Argentina. It is based in Santa Fe, Argentina, Santa Fe, the capital of Santa Fe Province. It has colleges and other academic facilities in Esperanza, Santa Fe, Esperanza ...

, where he received a ''

juris doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

'' in 1938. Luder was first elected to a seat in the Constitutional Convention of 1948, which drafted president

Juan Perón Juan Domingo Perón (, , ; 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine military officer and Statesman (politician), statesman who served as the History of Argentina (1946-1955), 29th president of Argentina from 1946 to Revolución Libertad ...

's 1949 replacement of the 1853

Constitution of Argentina The Constitution of the Argentine Nation () is the basic governing document of Argentina, and the primary source of existing law in Argentina. Its first version was written in 1853 by a constitutional assembly which gathered in Santa Fe; the ...

. Following Perón's 1955 overthrow, however, the original document was reinstated, and the exiled Perón entrusted Luder with his legal defense ''in absentia'' vis-á-vis extensive corruption charges. Luder was elected to the

as a

Peronist Peronism, also known as justicialism, is an Argentine ideology and movement based on the ideas, doctrine and legacy of Juan Perón (1895–1974). It has been an influential movement in 20th- and 21st-century Argentine politics. Since 1946, Pe ...

for

in 1973. Upon the resignation of Senate President Alejandro Díaz Bialet in July, Luder was elected to that post. Following President

's 1974 death,

became head of state, though by September 1975, mounting instability led her to announce a month's sick leave.

Acting President of Argentina

Lacking a Vice President, the post of acting

President of Argentina The president of Argentina, officially known as the president of the Argentine Nation, is both head of state and head of government of Argentina. Under Constitution of Argentina, the national constitution, the president is also the Head of go ...

fell to Luder, whose brief tenure would later be remembered chiefly for his signing of Decrees 2770-2772, which created a "Council for Internal Security", in response to

Operation Primicia Operation Primicia ("Scoop") was a large guerrilla assault that took place on 5 October 1975, in Formosa, Argentina. It was the largest attack ever launched by the paramilitary group Montoneros, which attempted to seize the barracks of the 29th ...

, a guerrilla attack carried out by

Montoneros Montoneros (, MPM) was an Argentine far-left politics, far-left Peronism, Peronist, Camilism, Camilist and Catholic Church, Roman Catholic revolutionary Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla organization, which emerged in the 1970s during the "Argentine ...

on a military barracks at

Formosa Province Formosa Province () is a province in northeastern Argentina, part of the Gran Chaco Region. Formosa's northeast end touches Asunción, Paraguay, and the province borders the provinces of Chaco and Salta to its south and west, respectively. The ...

. The measure, combined with prior ones, was successful in quelling an insurgent campaign led by the leftist ERP in

Tucumán Province Tucumán () is the most densely populated, and the second-smallest by land area, of the provinces of Argentina. Located in the northwest of the country, the province has the capital of San Miguel de Tucumán, often shortened to Tucumán. Neighb ...

, though it in practice extended a

state of siege ''State of Siege'' () is a 1972 French–Italian–West German political thriller film directed by Costa-Gavras starring Yves Montand and Renato Salvatori. The story is based on an actual incident in 1970, when U.S. official Dan Mitrione was k ...

nationwide.

Later Peronist leadership and other roles

Luder was nominated candidate for president for the

during the 1983 elections that resulted in the return of democracy following nearly eight years of dictatorship. The strong support of his candidacy by the CGT labor union could not compensate, however, for the Peronists' late start (the nomination was secured less than two months before election day), the rival UCR nominee

Raúl Alfonsín Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín (; 12 March 1927 – 31 March 2009) was an Argentine lawyer and statesman who served as President of Argentina from 10 December 1983 to 8 July 1989. He was the first democratically elected president after the 7-yea ...

's skillful campaign, or voters' bitter memories of Isabel Perón's chaotic tenure, among other problems. Luder was defeated on election night by around 12%. He was appointed Defense Secretary by newly elected President

in 1989, but a cabinet shake-up on the heels of a crisis at the end of the year led to his replacement, whereby Luder was named Ambassador to France. Ítalo Luder died from complications of

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

at the age of 91, on May 25, 2008, in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

External links

Italo Luder dies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Luder, Italo Argentino 1916 births 2008 deaths People from Rafaela Argentine people of German descent Justicialist Party politicians 20th-century Argentine lawyers Members of the Argentine Senate for Buenos Aires Province Provisional presidents of the Argentine Senate Defense ministers of Argentina Candidates for President of Argentina National University of the Littoral alumni Ambassadors of Argentina to France Deaths from dementia in Argentina Deaths from Alzheimer's disease