Abdón Cifuentes

Abdón Cifuentes Espinoza, GCSG (16 May 1835 - 14 April 1928) was one of

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

's most significant Catholic politicians in the nineteenth century. He was the son of José Maria Cifuentes Olivares and Paula Espinoza Pinto born in

San Felipe, Chile San Felipe (; "St. Philip" in Spanish) is a communes of Chile, commune and the Capital (political), capital city of the San Felipe de Aconcagua Province in central Chile's Valparaíso Region. Until 1976, it was the capital of Aconcagua (historica ...

. He married Luz Gómez, with whom he fathered 13 children. Cifuentes attended the '' Instituto Nacional'' (National Institute) and then studied law at the ''

Universidad de Chile The University of Chile ( es, Universidad de Chile) is a public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

'' (University of Chile), receiving his law degree in 1861. Cifuentes went on to become a professor at the ''Colegio San Luis'' and then the ''Instituto Nacional''. In 1882, he was named a member of the Faculty of

Philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

Humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...

of the ''Universidad de Chile'', and in 1889 he became professor of constitutional rights at the

Pontifical Catholic University of Chile The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (''PUC or UC Chile'') ( es, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile) is one of the six Catholic Universities existing in the Chilean university system and one of the two pontifical universities i ...

. Because of the perceived need for Catholic elements to combat liberals in the press, Cifuentes made contributions to various Chilean periodicals. Together with his former student and fellow Catholic intellectual Zorobabel Rodríguez, Cifuentes founded the daily newspaper ''El Independiente'' (''The Independent'') in 1864. In 1867, Cifuentes helped form the ''Sociedad de Amigos del País'' (Society of Friends of the Country) and in 1883 he was one of the founders of the ''Unión Católica de Chile'' (Catholic Union of Chile). Cifuentes was elected to Parliament as a representative of

Rancagua Rancagua () is a city and commune in central Chile and part of the Rancagua conurbation. It is the capital of the Cachapoal Province and of the O'Higgins Region, located south of the national capital of Santiago. It was originally named Santa ...

in 1867 and was reelected five times. In 1892, he was elected Senator of Llanquihue in 1892,

Aconcagua Aconcagua () is a mountain in the Principal Cordillera of the Andes mountain range, in Mendoza Province, Argentina. It is the List of highest mountains on Earth, highest mountain in the Americas, the highest outside Asia, and the highest in the ...

in 1894, and then

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

in 1904. In 1871, Abdón Cifuentes was appointed Minister of Public Instruction by President

Federico Errázuriz Zañartu Federico Marcos del Rosario Errázuriz Zañartu (; April 25, 1825 – July 20, 1877) was a Chilean political figure. He served as the president of Chile between 1871 and 1876. Biography He was born in Santiago in 1825, of Basque descent. He studi ...

, in which role Cifuentes proposed that state schools refrain from holding exams from private schools (mostly Catholic) and that such tests be carried out in the colleges themselves. It was signed into law January 15, 1872, and caused a strong reaction from lay professors. On January 30, 1872, he signed another law that granted the right to students to study separate branches of law. This attitude greatly troubled the director of the ''Instituto Nacional'',

Diego Barros Arana Diego Jacinto Agustín Barros Arana (; August 16, 1830 – November 4, 1907) was a Chilean professor, legislator, minister and diplomat. He is considered the most important Chilean historian of the 19th century. His main work ''General History of ...

, whom Cifuentes wanted to remove from power, though he was only able to sack part of Barros' faculty. After the students of the ''Instituto Nacional'' became disorderly, Barros resigned. The faculty was shaken, and Cifuentes closed the school momentarily to try to reestablish order. His actions in this ordeal were questioned in the congress by

Guillermo Antonio Matta Guillermo () is the Spanish form of the male given name William. The name is also commonly shortened to 'Guille' or, in Latin America, to nickname 'Memo'. People * Guillermo Amor (born 1967), Spanish football manager and former player * Guillermo A ...

, who proposed in 1873 that Cifuentes resign from his post. Cifuentes also participated in the composition of the act of deposition of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

José Manuel Balmaceda José Manuel Emiliano Balmaceda Fernández (; July 19, 1840 – September 19, 1891) served as the 10th President of Chile from September 18, 1886, to August 29, 1891. Balmaceda was part of the Castilian-Basque aristocracy in Chile. While he wa ...

in 1891, although he was not able to swear the oath as he was not in Congress at that time, and so Cifuentes administered the oath to the signatories. In 1919, Cifuentes was awarded the

Order of St. Gregory the Great The Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great ( la, Ordo Sancti Gregorii Magni; it, Ordine di San Gregorio Magno) was established on 1 September 1831, by Pope Gregory XVI, seven months after his election as Pope. The order is one of ...