Jorge Basadre

Jorge Alfredo Basadre Grohmann (February 12, 1903 - June 29, 1980) was a Peruvian historian known for his numerous publications on his country's independent history. He was Minister of Education in two different administrations and Director of the Peruvian National Library.

Basadre was a prolific writer, and his numerous works on Peruvian history in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries remain a standard for historians interested in this time period. His publications include lots of outstanding writing, however, "Historia de la República del Perú" (History of the Republic of Peru), first published as a single volume in 1939, is his most important work. With each new edition, it grew in size until it reached sixteen volumes in the sixth edition in 1968. By that time, it had meticulously covered Peruvian history from the country's independence in 1821 until the death of President Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro in 1933. Basadre supplemented his History of the Republic with the 1971 publication of Introducción a las bases documentales para la Historia de la Repblica del Per, a comprehensive review of primary sources on Peruvian republican history.

Jorge Basadre died on June 29, 1980, at the age of 77, in Lima, Peru. Jorge Basadre Grohmann National University in Tacna is named after him. His portrait has appeared on the S/ since 1991, when the nuevo sol became Peru's official currency 100 banknote. In his honor, a province was established in Tacna in 2008.