Adolfo Ballivián Coll (15 November 1831[1] – 14 February 1874) was a Bolivian military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of Bolivia from 1873 to 1874.

During his first trips, living in exile with his father, he met Carmen Grimwood Allende de Quillota in Valparaíso, Chile, whom he married.

Between 1862 and 1864 he participated as a representative in the National Assembly, and was exiled from the country after the triumph of Mariano Melgarejo over José María de Achá.

He was still in Europe when his name was invoked by congressional forces and constitutionalists to participate as a candidate in the 1873 elections, which had been quickly called after the unexpected assassination of President Morales.

This faction hoped to retake the lands which had been repatriated to its previous owners, seized by the government of Melgarejo and bestowed to his loyal allies.

Both Corral and Quevedo, as they had promised prior to their respective candidatures, accepted and acknowledged the victor of the elections as the legitimate successor to the presidency.

It also didn't help that his short presidential term coincided with a global drop in silver prices, which was Bolivia's most important export product at the time, along with tin.

It was in this context that Congress denied Ballivián his urgent request to buy two new warships from Europe to equip the precarious, practically non-existent Bolivian Navy.

[citation needed] The fiscal and financial troubles of the country bothered him greatly; however, with his weakening health, he was forced to give Frías the executive power on January 31, 1874.