Background
Manuel Apolinario Odría was born on 26 November 1907.
government official military politician president
Manuel Apolinario Odría was born on 26 November 1907.
Graduated from the Chorrillos Military Academy (1919) and studied at the Escuela Superior de Guerra ( 1927-1929), of which he later served as director.
Odria was promoted to brigadier general by Congress in 1946. The following year he became minister of the interior of President José Luis Bustamante y Rivero. whom he ousted from power on October 29, 1948.
During his autocratic rule, Odria kept the Peruvian Aprista Party outlawed and undertook a public works program, especially during the Korean War ( 1950-1953), when prices of Peruvian exports rose sharply and foreign investment expanded the national economy. At the end of his dictatorship, Odria traveled to the United States and Europe until 1961, when he returned to Lima to found the Union Nacional Odriista (UNO), which nominated him for president in the elections of 1962 and 1963. Although UNO came in third in both elections, the party remained active until the reformist military leaders came to power in 1968. Odria then faded from public view in retirement.
