Jaime Eyzaguirre (21 December 1908 – 17 September 1968) was a Chilean lawyer, essayist and historian. He is variously recognized as a writer of Spanish traditionalist or

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians h ...

in his country.Góngora ''et al''., pp. 201–202

Early life and marriage

Eyzaguirre was born into a religious upper-class family in

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, whos ...

. As young man he studied law in 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 ...

(PUC) and was member of the Catholic student organization Asociación Nacional de Estudiantes Católicos. During his studies he was influenced by the

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

Fernando Vives Fernando Vives Solar (1871–1935) was a Chilean Jesuit known as one of the foremost advocates of the Catholic social teachings in Chile. Vives influenced a generation of young men including Alberto Hurtado, Clotario Blest and future historian Jai ...

and the writings of

Manuel Lacunza Manuel De Lacunza, S.J. (July 19, 1731 – c. June 18, 1801) was a Jesuit priest who used the pseudonym Juan Josafat Ben-Ezra in his main work on the interpretation of the prophecies of the Bible, which was entitled ''The Coming of the Messiah in ...

. Eyzaguirre started to court Adriana Philippi in 1929 and married her in 1934.Góngora ''et al''., pp. 140–142

Essayist, historian and teacher

The PUC founded its Pedagogy School (''Escuela de Pedagogía'') in 1943 and contracted Eyzaguirre to be in charge of the History of Chile (''Historia de Chile'') classes. Most of the students of the time were priests, nuns and brothers. He was assisted by

Mario Góngora Mario Góngora del Campo (June 22, 1915 – November 18, 1985) was a Chilean historian considered "one of the most important Chilean historians of the 20th century". Though his work he examined the history of the inquilinos, the encomentaderos, ...

is some classes.Góngora ''et al''., pp. 177–178 Apart from this part-time work Eyzaguirre was also part-time teacher at Liceo Alemán. At the Pedagogy School Eyzaguirre met

Ricardo Krebs Ricardo Krebs Wilckens (December 2, 1918 – December 23, 2011) was a Chilean historian of German descent. In 1943, Krebs joined the newly founded Pedagogy School (''Escuela de Pedagogía'') of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, where ...

, who was also history teacher but had rather few contacts, and introduced him to the Catholic intellectual elite of Santiago. His salary is reported to have been low at PUC and when "raised" it mostly had to do with the currency

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reduct ...

experienced in Chile. Nevertheless, he was allowed to rent a small local owned by the Archbishopric of Santiago at a relatively low price. Here, Eyzaguirre ran a small bookshop called ''El Arbol'' until the late 1950s when it was closed. Despite his economic hardships he twice refused to be assigned ambassador to Spain. Eyzaguirre thought any diplomatic work he did would need to compete with his work as historian and therefore he would not be able to accomplish a dedicated work in diplomacy. At the same time the writings of

Léon Bloy Léon Bloy (; 11 July 1846 – 3 November 1917) was a French Catholic novelist, essayist, pamphleteer (or lampoonist), and satirist, known additionally for his eventual (and passionate) defense of Catholicism and for his influence within French C ...

provided him with comfort about his economic hardship.Góngora ''et al''., pp. 156–160

Evaluation of Spain in the Americas

His cultural and ethnic evaluation of

Spanish colonization of the Americas Spain began colonizing the Americas under the Crown of Castile and was spearheaded by the Spanish . The Americas were invaded and incorporated into the Spanish Empire, with the exception of Brazil, British America, and some small regions ...

and ''

mestizo (; ; fem. ) is a term used for racial classification to refer to a person of mixed Ethnic groups in Europe, European and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous American ancestry. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also r ...

'' result:

''O'Higgins'' and Spain

A milestone in the work of Eyzaguirre was his essay ''O'Higgins'' that won a prize in 1946 to commemorate the centenary of the death of

Bernardo O'Higgins Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme (; August 20, 1778 – October 24, 1842) was a Chilean independence leader who freed Chile from Spanish rule in the Chilean War of Independence. He was a wealthy landowner of Basque-Spanish and Irish ancestry. Althou ...

. This was the first written work that granted Eyzaguirre some income. The prize reward helped Eyzaguirre to finance a trip to Spain in 1947. This seven months long journey reinforced his leanings for Spanish heritage in his historiography. In Spain Eyzaguirre held a course on Chilean political and constitutional history at

Universidad Central de Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid ( es, Universidad Complutense de Madrid; UCM, links=no, ''Universidad de Madrid'', ''Universidad Central de Madrid''; la, Universitas Complutensis Matritensis, links=no) is a public research university loca ...

. His stay in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

made him target of attacks in Chile from those critical of

Francoist Spain Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...

, in particular from people associated with the ''

National Falange The National Falange ( es, Falange Nacional, FN) was a Chilean Christian political party that existed between 1935 and 1957. It was the basis of the Christian Democratic Party (PDC); still it is customary to use the expressions "Falange" and "Fala ...

'' party (not to be confused with the Spanish movement). Personally, Eyzaguirre admired the stoic stance of the isolated Francoist Spain against both Soviet and Western pressure but did never propagandize for Francoist Spain in Chile.

Back in Chile

For a time he was teacher of

Jaime Guzmán Jaime Jorge Guzmán Errázuriz (June 28, 1946 – April 1, 1991) was a Chilean constitutional law professor, speechwriter and member and doctrinal founder of the conservative Independent Democrat Union party. In the 1960s he opposed the Universit ...

. When the journal '' Historia'' was established in 1961 Eyzaguirre served as its first director. Generally Eyzaguirre dealt with similar topics as

Lewis Hanke Lewis Hanke (1905–1993) was an American historian of colonial Latin America, and is best known for his writings on the Spanish conquest of Latin America. Hanke, along with two others, Irving A. Leonard and John T. Lanning, presented a revisioni ...

. He despised 19th century writers such as

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 ...

and

Domingo Faustino Sarmiento Domingo Faustino Sarmiento (; born Domingo Faustino Fidel Valentín Sarmiento y Albarracín; 15 February 1811 – 11 September 1888) was an Argentine activist, intellectual, writer, statesman and the second President of Argentina. His writing s ...

because he considered they "ruptured" the historical links to Spain and characterized their views as "

apostasy Apostasy (; grc-gre, ἀποστασία , 'a defection or revolt') is the formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that i ...

". The work of Eyzaguirre was criticized by left-wing historians. Mario Céspedes said in reference to Eyzaguirre's writings on the

conquest of Chile The Conquest of Chile is a period in Chilean historiography that starts with the arrival of Pedro de Valdivia to Chile in 1541 and ends with the death of Martín García Óñez de Loyola in the Battle of Curalaba in 1598, and the destruction of th ...

that the conquest was a search for Indian labourers and "not a chivalrous journey". On the essay ''O'Higgins'' Céspedes wrote that it lacked "the social and economic causes of the facts". Marxist Julio César Jobet made a more harsh criticism accusing Eyzaguirre of "exalting backward doctrines and institutions" and undermining the influence of "French rationalist and critical thought in the development and progress of Chile".Góngora ''et al''., pp. 197–198

Major works

*''Ventura de Pedro de Valdivia'' (1942) *''O'Higgins'' (1946) *''Hispanoamérica del dolor'' (1947) *''Fisonomía histórica de Chile'' (1948) *''Ideario y ruta de la emancipación chilena y Chile durante el gobierno de Errázuriz Echaurren'' (1957) *''Historia del Derecho'' (1959) *''Chile y Bolivia, esquema de un proceso diplomático'' (1963) *''Historia de Chile'' (1965) *''Historia de las instituciones políticas y sociales de Chile'' (1966) *''Breve historia de las fronteras de Chile'' (1967)

Notes

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eyzaguirre, Jaime 1908 births 1968 deaths Chilean people of Basque descent 20th-century Chilean lawyers Legal historians Members of the Chilean Academy of Language People from Santiago Pontifical Catholic University of Chile alumni Pontifical Catholic University of Chile faculty University of Chile faculty 20th-century Chilean historians 20th-century Chilean male writers Chilean essayists Chilean biographers 20th-century essayists Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Chilean scholars of constitutional law