Óscar Bidegain

Óscar Bidegain began his career as a surgeon, working in a hospital in Buenos Aires, before becoming a noted sports shooter and later a politician. After the end of the war Bidegain competed in multiple competitions during the late 1940s and early 1950s, winning medals in free pistol shooting. In 1947 he won a team gold and an individual silver in the 50 metres event at the World Championships, earning himself a place on the Argentine Olympic team. At the 1948 Games in London, he placed 16th in the free pistol event, scoring 523 points out of a possible 600. One year later Bidegain won another team gold at the World Championships, followed by team silvers at the Pan American Games in both 1951 and 1955.

In the mid-1940s Bidegain joined the Argentine Labour Party, founded by Juan Perón, with the party soon becoming the Justicialist Party shortly afterwards. In 1948 he was elected as the national deputy for the province of Buenos Aires, serving in the role until 1955. His term ended following a coup d’état in the country, which saw Bidegain arrested and imprisoned for the next two years. After his release he continued to suffer from attacks on his property for his ties to Perón for several years.

Bidegain then served as the Governor of the Province of Buenos Aires between 1973 and 1974, but was later criticised by Perón following an attack on Azul garrison by the People’s Revolutionary Army. As a result, he spent several years living in exile, before returning to Argentina in the early 1990s. Following his death in December 1994 a neighbourhood in his hometown of Azul was named after him in his honour.