Eduardo Abaroa

Eduardo Abaroa was born on October 13, 1838, in San Pedro de Atacama (then part of Bolivia's coastal Litoral Department). A civilian civil engineer and municipal councilor, Abaroa volunteered immediately when Chilean troops invaded the Bolivian coast in February 1879 at the outbreak of the War of the Pacific.

On March 23, 1879, at the Battle of Topáter, Abaroa and 135 Bolivian defenders defended the crossing against more than 500 Chilean soldiers. Refusing to surrender when surrounded, he fired until out of ammunition, shouting his immortal defiance: 'Surrender? Let your grandmother surrender, damn it!' His martyrdom is commemorated annually on March 23 as the National Day of the Sea (Día del Mar).