The General Jose de San Martin Memorial is an equestrian statue memorial of Argentine

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 general and independence leader José de San Martín

José de San Martín

José Francisco de San Martín, known simply as Don José de San Martín , was an Argentine general and the prime leader of the southern part of South America's successful struggle for independence from Spain.Born in Yapeyú, Corrientes , he left his mother country at the...

 in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

The memorial is located at Virginia Avenue

Virginia Avenue

Virginia Avenue is a street in the Northwest, Southwest, and Southeast quadrants of Washington, D.C. Like other state-named streets in Washington, it diagonally crosses the grid pattern formed by lettered and numbered streets....

 and 20th Street N.W. in the Foggy Bottom, Washington, D.C., near the United States Department of State

United States Department of State

The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...

.

The memorial was sculpted by Augustin-Alexandre Dumont

Augustin-Alexandre Dumont

Augustin-Alexandre Dumont was a French sculptor.He was one of a long line of famous sculptors, the great-grandson of Pierre Dumont, son of Jacques-Edme Dumont and brother to Jeanne Louise Dumont Farrenc. In 1818, he started studies at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris; he was a pupil of Pierre...

 beginning in 1924. It is a replica of an original located in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

. The memorial was a gift to the United States from Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 and was dedicated on October 28, 1925. President

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 Calvin Coolidge

Calvin Coolidge

John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...

spoke at the dedication.
It was rededicated on October 6, 1976.

Plaquette

Next to the memorial is a plaque with the following text:

JOSE de SAN MARTIN

FOUNDER OF THE ARGENTINE INDEPENDENCE

HE LED THE LIBERATING ARMY ACROSS THE ANDES

AND GAVE FREEDOM TO CHILE AND PERU

HIS NAME LIKE WASHINGTON'S REPRESENTS

THE AMERICAN IDEAL OF DEMOCRACY, JUSTICE AND LIBERTY