Gabriel Terra

Gabriel Terra
Terra in 1934
President of Uruguay
In office
18 May 1934 – 9 June 1938
Succeeded byAlfredo Baldomir
De facto President of Uruguay
In office
31 March 1933 – 18 May 1934
Preceded byHimself as constitutional president
Succeeded byHimself as designated president
26th Constitutional President of Uruguay
In office
1 March 1931 – 31 March 1933
Preceded byJuan Campisteguy
Succeeded byHimself as de facto president
Personal details
BornJosé Luis Gabriel Terra Leivas
1 August 1873
Montevideo, Uruguay
Died15 September 1942 (aged 69)
Montevideo, Uruguay
PartyColorado Party
SpouseMaría Marcelina Ilarraz Miranda
Children8
Parents
  • José Ladislao Terra (father)
  • Joaquina Leivas y Caballero (mother)
EducationUniversity of the Republic
Occupation
  • Politician
  • jurist
  • professor

José Luis Gabriel Terra Leivas (1 August 1873 – 15 September 1942) was a Uruguayan lawyer and statesman who served as the 26th constitutional president of Uruguay from 1931 to 1933 and as dictator until 1938. He led a traditionalist and corporatist regime known as the March dictatorship, because the self-coup that he led took place on 31 March 1933.

While in power, Terra promoted the 1934 Constitution, which after being approved by the citizens through a nationwide referendum, officially abolished the collegiate executive established in 1917 and guaranteed rights such as gender equality and women's suffrage, as well as the legalization of homosexuality.

In 1938, he became president of the state-owned Banco de la República Oriental del Uruguay. That same year, he left the position due to a stroke, remaining paralyzed for four years until his death in near-extreme poverty on 15 September 1942.