PROFILE: O'Higgins brought Irish pluck to Chile's independence fight

Apr 15, 2010, 5:40 GMT

Buenos Aires - Bernardo O'Higgins, together with Argentine independence hero Jose de San Martin, freed modern-day Chile from Spain's colonial domination.

He was born on August 20, 1778 in Chillan, in current Chile. He was the illegitimate son of Ambrosio O'Higgins, an Irish-born Spanish military officer who was later to serve as viceroy of Peru, although the two men never met.

From a distance, Ambrosio O'Higgins was interested in his son's education and sent him to London, where the young man came into contact with representatives of the Latin American liberation movement.

Upon his return to his homeland, he joined the 1810 revolt against Spanish domination and was from 1813 on the commander of the liberation army.

Amid in-fighting in Chile and following a tough defeat against Spanish forces at the Battle of Rancagua in 1814, O'Higgins retreated to Argentina. However, he was back across the Andes in 1817, with San Martin.

The Battle of Maipu, on April 5, 1818, sealed Chile's independence. The triumphant San Martin set up a national government but declined the presidency he had been offered in favour of the native O'Higgins.

Only five years later, however, O'Higgins was deposed, mostly because his liberal reforms were too much for the wealthy upper class. He went into exile in Peru, and died in Lima on October 24, 1842.