Matías Cousiño Jorquera (1810–1863) was a

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 ...

an coal magnate and patriarch of the wealthy Cousiño family. Cousiño's most emblematic coal mine was found in Lota a small coastal town on the coast of the Bío-Bío Region, where steam ships that crossed the Strait of Magellan could be resupplied with coal.

Early and personal life

Matías Cousiño was born in Santiago, Chile as the son of José Agustín Cousiño Zapata and Josefa de Jorquera y Alfaro, a family of Galician and Spanish descent. During the War for Independence, his family lost their wealth, and Matías was forced to work at an early age. He worked in the post office of

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 ...

, where his father was the boss. He went on to succeed his father in 1828. During this time, he married Loreto Squella y Lopetegui, who died giving birth to his first son, Luis Cousiño Squella. Matías Cousiño studied in Santiago without excelling in his academics, but doing so in business. In 1841, he married Luz Gallo Zavala, who had 2 children. Thanks to his economic power, he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies, representing the

Petorca Petorca is a Chilean town and commune located in the Petorca Province, Valparaíso Region. The commune spans an area of . Since 2010 Petorca has been affected by a long-term drought aggravated by poor water administration that have allowed limi ...

(1849–1852) and

Quillota Quillota is a city located in the Aconcagua River valley in central Chile's Valparaíso Region. It is the capital and largest city of Quillota Province, where many inhabitants live in the outlying farming areas of San Isidro, La Palma, Pococ ...

(1852–1855). He was elected senator between 1855 and 1864 but died on March 21, 1863, in Santiago.

Birth of the entrepreneur

He quit his work at the post office to begin exporting animals to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, and the success of this business led him to search for new ventures, one being the new silver mines 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 nort ...

. At the end of the 1840s, he expanded into the milling industry in Concepción. He organized a milling association that exported flour and wheat to the Pacific coast. His mining career began as a butler in the mines of Ramón Ignacio de Goyenechea, an investor in the silver mine of ''Descubridora de

Chañarcillo Chañarcillo is a town and mine in the Atacama Desert of Copiapó Province, Atacama Region, Chile, located near Vallenar and 60 km from Copiapó. It is noted for its silver mining. The town grew up after the Chañarcillo silver mine was discovere ...

'' in the

Atacama Desert The Atacama Desert ( es, Desierto de Atacama) is a desert plateau in South America covering a 1,600 km (990 mi) strip of land on the Pacific coast, west of the Andes Mountains. The Atacama Desert is the driest nonpolar desert in th ...

. He continued ascending in position until his marriage in 1841, widow of Ignacio de Goyenechea, allowed him to combine the two fortunes. His fortune continued to grow when in 1844, along with Rafael Torreblanca, he invented a new machine to extract metals. He obtained an exclusive permit for its use from Manuel Bulnes' government for ten years. In 1850, Matías became director of The Copiapó Mining Group, the most powerful association in Chile.

References

* La Tercera: Icarito - Biografía Matías Cousiño

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cousino, Matias 1810 births 1863 deaths Businesspeople from Santiago Chilean people of Galician descent Chilean people of Spanish descent Deputies of the IX Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile Deputies of the X Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile Senators of the XI Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile Senators of the XII Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile Senators of the XIII Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile Chilean billionaires Chilean businesspeople in mining Chilean philanthropists 19th-century philanthropists