The Grand Lodge of Chile (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

: ''Gran Logia de Chile'') is a regular Masonic body in Chile founded on May 24, 1862. The earthquake of 1906 destroyed the original headquarters and the archives of the Grand Lodge, which determined its definitive transfer to Santiago, settling in the Club de la República.

History

To constitute a

Grand Lodge A Grand Lodge (or Grand Orient or other similar title) is the overarching governing body of a fraternal or other similarly organized group in a given area, usually a city, state, or country. In Freemasonry A Grand Lodge or Grand Orient is the us ...

as an autonomous masonic power, the tradition, and regulations usually shared in various nations require that there must be at least three formally constituted lodges in the territory. By the year 1862 there were already four exclusively national lodges operating in the Spanish language in the country, namely: Unión Fraternal, directed by Manuel de Lima in

Valparaíso Valparaíso (; ) is a major city, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the commune of Valparaíso, Chile. "Greater Valparaíso" is the second largest metropolitan area in the country. Valparaíso is located about northwest of Santiago ...

; Aurora from

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 ...

, directed by Enrique Pastor in Concepción; Hiram Lodge, directed by Guillermo Gotschalk in

Copiapó Copiapó () is a city and commune in northern Chile, located about 65 kilometers east of the coastal town of Caldera. Founded on December 8, 1744, it is the capital of Copiapó Province and Atacama Region. Copiapó lies about 800 km north ...

; and Progreso, directed by Blas Cuevas in Valparaíso. On this basis, it was already possible to execute the original plan. After multiple steps and attempts, both nationally and abroad, it was finally possible to agree on April 29, 1862, in an assembly made up of the lodges of Valparaíso, Copiapó and Concepción, the formation of the Grand Lodge of Chile. On May 24, the election of the first officers of this Grand Lodge of Chile was held, whose details are as follows: "Venerable Grand Master: Juan de Dios Arlegui Gorbea, Grand Deputy: Melitón First Grand Warden Case: Fco. Javier Villanueva, Second Great Watchman: Manuel De Lima, Great Secretary: AM Medina, Great Speaker: MC de Sarratea, Great Treasurer: Pedro Gudde". On May 24, 1862, the first Grand Master was solemnly elected by his peers. That distinction fell to the citizen Juan de Dios Arlegui Gorbea, who came from a traditional and Catholic family that had in the clergy a bishop uncle, José Santiago Rodríguez Zorrilla, and a great-uncle, Juan de Dios Arlegui Rodríguez. His tutors had also received the Catholic influence. He spent some years studying theology at the Conciliar Seminary. There he received lessons from the prelate José Hipólito Salas y Toro, from the theologian Justo Donoso Vivanco, as well as from the Argentine priest Manuel Castro y Barros. Despite this powerful religious influence, Juan de Dios Arlegui, without alienating his family and teachers, was able to discover his destiny that would lead him to lead an intellectual movement of rationalist inspiration, revolutionary for that time. After the Conciliar seminar, he went on to study at the Instituto Nacional, under the rectorate of Antonio Varas, where he received lessons from the sociologist, politician, and educator

José Victorino Lastarria José Victorino Lastarria (; 23 March 1817 – 14 June 1888) was a Chilean writer, legislative deputy, senator, diplomat, and finance minister. Early life José Victorino Lastarria was the son of Francisco Lastarria y Cortés and Carmen Santander ...

. Graduated as a lawyer on November 7, 1848, Juan de Dios Arlegui Gorbea settled in Valparaíso to exercise his profession, conquering there the honorable reputation of Jurisconsult. He was also a deputy and a senator, always representing the progressive current and collaborating in several projects of positive national benefit. For a decade he directed the destinies of the Grand Lodge, a period in which the lodges Justice and Liberty No. 5, Duty and Constancy No. 7 and Truth No. 10 were founded in Santiago. Outstanding personalities of the time entered these new workshops, such as: Eduardo De la Barra, Guillermo and Manuel Antonio Matta Goyenechea, Miguel Santamaría, Juan Agustín Palazuelos Ramírez, Pedro León Gallo Goyenechea, Juan Nepomuceno Espejo Bravo, Diego Barros Arana, Ramón Allende Padín, Alejo Palma Guzmán, Francisco Gandarillas Luco, José Francisco Vergara Echevers, Enrique Mac-Iver Rodríguez, Germán Tenderini y Vacca, Aníbal Pinto Garmendia, Andrés and Jacinto Chacón, Juan Williams Rebolledo, Justo and Juan Domingo Arteaga Alenparte, Marcial Gatica, José Tomás Urmeneta, Juan Enrique Lagarrigue, Manuel Carrera Pinto, Emilio Orrego Luco, Francisco Santa Cruz and so many others no less restless of the most varied ages and professions. Interesting at that time was the extension of Masonic lodges to the field of politics, through the inauguration of groups called Clubs de la Reforma, which functioned in Santiago and other provinces of the country from 1868 to 1871. Casa masonica viña

These clubs were true circles in which most of the ideological, social and educational transformations that society needed were debated and many of which entered the constitutional reform of the government of

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 ...

. Others of these approaches were written in the text of the

Chilean Constitution of 1925 The Constitution of 1925 was the constitution in force in Chile between 1925 and 1973 when the Government Junta suspended it. In the 1920s Chile had a severe social and economic crisis that led to the loss of prestige for old ruling class, labeled ...

. After the creation of the Truth Lodge in 1872 –the tenth dependent upon the Grand Lodge of Chile–, a significant number of Masonic workshops were founded throughout the national territory. Influential personalities from the social, business and educational fields joined in each city. In 1862, the Grand Lodge of Chile was recognized by the

Grand Lodge of Massachusetts The Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, commonly referred to as the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts and abbreviated GLMA, is the main governing body of Freemasonry within Massachusetts ...

, that is, the same year it was founded, and the following year it would obtain recognition from the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia. In 1864, when the problems caused by Napoleon III in French Freemasonry had already been overcome, official recognition was obtained by the Central

Grand Orient de France The Grand Orient de France (GODF) is the oldest and largest of several Freemasonry, Freemasonic organizations based in France and is the oldest in Continental Europe (as it was formed out of an older Grand Lodge of France in 1773, and briefly ab ...

. By 1862, the first Constitution was promulgated under the name of Statutes of the Masonic Order in Chile. Towards the year 1912, by agreement of the Assembly of the Grand Lodge of Chile, the Constitution and the general statutes were founded to give rise to the definitive Masonic Constitution, which had undergone reforms in the years: 1921, 1930, 1938, 1955, 1971, 1978 and 1984. Initially, the Grand Lodge of Chile governed both symbolic and philosophical Freemasonry. At the end of the 19th century,

Eduardo de la Barra Eduardo de la Barra (1839–1900) was a Chilean writer, diplomat and geographer. De la Barra is known for his polemics, including his opposition to what he perceived as an excessive German cultural and scientific influence in Chile. For this purpo ...

established, through letters patent granted in Argentina, a Supreme Council of the 33rd degree to administer the philosophical degrees, while the Grand Lodge exercised jurisdiction over the symbolic workshops. The headquarters of the Grand Lodge of Chile were in Valparaíso from its foundation until 1906, when the devastating Valparaíso earthquake occurred that severely damaged the Masonic house, after which it was moved to Santiago. In the capital, it settled in the city center, in the now defunct San Carlos gallery, where five lodges worked: Deber y Constancia No. 7, Aurora de Italia No. 24, Verdad No. 10, Franklin No. 27 and the Union Fraternal No. 1 of Buenos Aires.

Rites

The Grand Lodge of Chile has jurisdiction over the symbolic lodges (they work in the degrees of apprentice, companion and Master Mason), these can work three different rites:

Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction in the United States often omits the ''and'', while the English Constitution in the United Kingdom omits the ''Scottish''), commonly known as simply the Sco ...

York Rite The York Rite, sometimes referred to as the American Rite, is one of several Rites of Freemasonry. It is named for, but not practiced in York, Yorkshire, England. A Rite is a series of progressive degrees that are conferred by various Masonic ...

and

Schröder Rite Schröder Rite (in German: ''Schrödersche Lehrart'') is a masonic rite practiced mostly in lodges in Germany and Brazil, with fewer lodges in other countries. Developed by Friedrich Ludwig Schröder and showed to Masters in Hamburg (male), ...

Grand Masters of the Grand Lodge of Chile

Featured Freemasons

Manuel Blanco Encalada (Nataniel Hughes, 1853)

Presidents of Chile

* José Miguel de la Carrera y Verdugo * Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme *

Ramón Freire Serrano Ramón or Ramon may refer to: People Given name * Ramon (footballer, born 1998), Brazilian footballer * Ramón (footballer, born 1990), Brazilian footballer *Ramón (singer), Spanish singer who represented Spain in the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest ...

Manuel Blanco Encalada Manuel José Blanco y Calvo de Encalada (; April 21, 1790 – September 5, 1876) was a vice-admiral in the Chilean Navy, a political figure, and Chile's first President (Provisional) (1826). Biography Born in Buenos Aires which was the capital ...

Santiago Del Solar, F. (2010). La Francmasonería en Chile: De sus orígenes hasta su institucionalización. REHMLAC, 2(1), 7–8. https://dialnet.unirioja.es/descarga/articulo/3268626.pdf *

Aníbal Pinto Garmendia Aníbal is the Spanish and Portuguese masculine given name equivalent of Hannibal (q.v.), itself a latinization of the Greek name Hanníbas (Ἀννίβας), derived from “ḥnbʿl” in the Carthaginian language (Carthaginian Punic script, 𐤇 ...

Arturo Alessandri Palma Arturo Fortunato Alessandri Palma (; December 20, 1868 – August 24, 1950) was a Chilean political figure and reformer who served thrice as president of Chile, first from 1920 to 1924, then from March to October 1925, and finally from 1932 to ...

Pedro Aguirre Cerda Pedro Abelino Aguirre Cerda (; February 6, 1879 – November 25, 1941) was a Chilean political figure, educator, and lawyer who served as the 22nd president of Chile from 1938 until his death in 1941. A member of the Radical Party since 1906, ...

* Jerónimo Méndez Arancibia * Juan Antonio Ríos Morales *

Gabriel González Videla Gabriel Enrique González Videla (; November 22, 1898 – August 22, 1980) was a Chilean politician and lawyer who served as the 24th president of Chile from 1946 to 1952. He had previously been a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 193 ...

Carlos Ibáñez del Campo General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo (; 3 November 1877 – 28 April 1960) was a Chilean Army officer and political figure. He served as President twice, first between 1927 and 1931, and then from 1952 to 1958, serving for 10 years in office. T ...

Salvador Allende Gossens Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (, , ; 26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean physician and socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 3 November 1970 until his death on 11 September 1973. He was the fir ...

Augusto Pinochet Ugarte Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, , , ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Military Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1981, being declared President of ...

Navy

Juan José Latorre Juan José Latorre Benavente (Santiago; March 24, 1846 – July 9, 1912) Chilean Vice Admiral, one of the principal actors of the War of the Pacific, and hero of the Battle of Angamos. Early life Son of Elías Latorre and of Nicomedia Benav ...

* Luis Pardo Villalón * Manuel Thomson Porto Mariño

Army

* Estanislao del Canto Arteaga * Diego Dublé Almeyda * Pedro Lagos Marchant *

Emilio Sotomayor Baeza Emilio Sotomayor Baeza was a Chilean general and politician who was the Commander-in-Chief of the Chilean Army from January 4, 1884 to August 22, 1888 as well as a prominent military commander during the War of the Pacific. Biography Emilio was ...

Air Force

Alberto Bachelet Alberto Arturo Miguel Bachelet Martínez (; 27 April 1923 – 13 March 1974) was a Chilean Brigadier General of the Chilean Air Force. He opposed the 1973 coup of General Augusto Pinochet, and was imprisoned and subject to torture for several mon ...

Marmaduke Grove Marmaduke Grove Vallejo (; July 6, 1878 – May 15, 1954), his name erroneously spelled Marmaduque Grobeh, was a Chilean Air Force officer, political figure and member of the Government Junta of the Socialist Republic of Chile in 1932. Early lif ...

* Arturo Merino Benítez

Politicians

* Ángel Gallo Goyenechea * Juan Gómez Millas * Eugenio González Rojas * Juvenal Hernández *

* Enrique Silva Cimma

Writers

Francisco Bilbao Francisco Bilbao Barquín (; 19 January 1823 – 9 February 1865) was a Chilean writer, philosopher and liberal politician. Early life Francisco Bilbao Barquin was born in Santiago on 9 January 1823 to Rafael Bilbao Beyne and Argentina Mercedes ...

Guillermo Blest Gana Guillermo Blest Gana (28 April 1829 – 7 November 1904) was a Chilean writer, usually considered one of his country's leading exponents of Romantic literature. Biography Guillermo Blest Gana was born in Santiago in 1829, the son of Chilean ari ...

* Benedicto Chuaqui Kettlun * Manuel Magallanes Moure

Artists

* Fernando Daza Osorio * Nicanor Plaza

References

{{Authority control Grand Lodges Clubs and societies in Chile 1863 establishments in Chile