Originally of Basque ethnicity, José Benjamín Zubiaur studied at the Colegio Nacional del Uruguay, and later studied law in Buenos Aires. He was then appointed to the Ministry of Justice, which was unusual in that era for a non-Catholic. Zubiaur became rector of his alma mater in 1892, and did not return to Argentina until 1899. He had met Pierre de Coubertin at an International Educational Congress in Paris in 1889 and was appointed as a founding member of the IOC. However, as a teacher and living in South America, Zubiaur was not able to attend IOC Sessions and in May 1907 he was de-commissioned by the IOC. He continued his career as an educator throughout his life.
Argentina