Pedro Abelino Aguirre Cerda (; February 6, 1879 – November 25, 1941) was a Chilean

political figure A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

, educator, and lawyer who served as the 22nd

president of Chile The president of Chile ( es, Presidente de Chile), officially known as the President of the Republic of Chile ( es, Presidente de la República de Chile), is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Chile. The president is re ...

from 1938 until his death in 1941. A member of the Radical Party since 1906, he was chosen by the left-wing

Popular Front A popular front is "any coalition of working-class and middle-class parties", including liberal and social democratic ones, "united for the defense of democratic forms" against "a presumed Fascist assault". More generally, it is "a coalition ...

coalition as its candidate for the 1938 presidential election and won. He had previously served as

deputy Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spai ...

for San Felipe, Putaendo and Los Andes from 1915 to 1918,

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

from January to September 1918 under president

Juan Luis Sanfuentes Juan Luis Sanfuentes Andonaegui (; 27 December 1858 – 16 July 1930) was President of Chile between 1915 and 1920. Sanfuentes was the son of writer and politician Salvador Sanfuentes Torres and Matilde Andonaegui. Orphaned at an early age and ...

, deputy for Santiago from 1918 to 1921, Minister of Justice and Public Instruction from 1920 to 1921 under president

Arturo Alessandri 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 1 ...

, and

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for Concepción from 1921 to 1927. He died two years and eleven months into his presidency on November 25, 1941 at the age of 62, from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

. __TOC__

Early life

Pedro Aguirre Cerda was born on February 6, 1879 in Pocuro, a small village near the city of Los Andes, Chile. He was the seventh of eleven children born to parents Juan Bautista Aguirre Campos and Clarisa Cerda Escudero. His father, a farmer, died in 1887 when he was eight years old, leaving his widowed mother to run the farm and raise the eleven children on her own. His family was of Basque descent. He completed his initial tertiary studies at the Pedagogical Institute of the University of Chile in Santiago, becoming a Spanish teacher. He continued his studies at the university's Faculty of Law, becoming a lawyer in 1904. In 1910, he received a government grant to study administrative and financial law at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and political economy and social legislation at the

Collège de France The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment (''grand établissement'') in France. It is located in Paris ne ...

. He returned to Chile in 1914 and took a position as a teacher at the Instituto Nacional and was elected as president of the National Society of Teachers. In 1916, he married his first cousin Juana Rosa Aguirre Luco, with whom he had no children. He was a very distinguished teacher, attorney, deputy and senator. He was also the first dean of the new school of economy of the University of Chile. As a member of the Radical Party, he was minister of Public Instruction and of the Interior during the administrations of

and

. During the period of military domination, he was persecuted and became an active opposition leader to the government of

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

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 ...

. He was chosen by the Popular Front coalition of left-wing parties and trade unions as its candidate in the 1938 Chilean presidential election, where he narrowly defeated right-wing candidate of the Liberal-Conservative coalition by 4,111 votes.

Presidency

Aguirre Cerda assumed his duties as president on December 25, 1938 under the slogan "''Gobernar es educar''" (to govern is to educate). As a teacher, his priority in government was education. As such, he promoted the development of the technical-industrial schools as a means to promote the formation of technicians for the nascent industrialization of the country. He also created thousands of new regular schools and encouraged the growth of the university system to cover the whole of the country. Aguirre's government also redistributed some land, encouraged the formation of agricultural settlements, built low-cost housing and schools, and integrated the Marxist parties into the political system. During his first year he had to face military opposition to his plans, which boiled over with the so-called

Ariostazo The Ariostazo ( es, El Ariostazo) occurred on August 25, 1939, and was a brief revolt of the Tacna artillery regiment, led by General Ariosto Herrera, in what turned out to be a non-violent attempt against the government of Chilean President Pedro ...

. He also promoted and campaigned for a

Nobel prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

for

Gabriela Mistral Lucila Godoy Alcayaga (; 7 April 1889 – 10 January 1957), known by her pseudonym Gabriela Mistral (), was a Chilean poet-diplomat, educator and humanist. In 1945 she became the first Latin American author to receive a Nobel Prize in Lite ...

, which only came to fruition under his successor,

Juan Antonio Ríos Juan Antonio Ríos Morales (; November 10, 1888 – June 27, 1946) was a Chilean political figure who served as president of Chile from 1942 to 1946, during the height of World War II. He died in office. Early life Ríos was born at the ''Hu ...

. On the economic side, and prompted in part by the devastating earthquake of 1939, he created the Production Development Corporation (''Corporación de Fomento de la Producción'' -

CORFO The Production Development Corporation (CORFO, from es, Corporación de Fomento de la Producción de Chile) is a Chilean governmental organization that was founded in 1939 by President Pedro Aguirre Cerda to promote economic growth in Chile. ...

) to encourage with subsidies and direct investments an ambitious program of

import substitution industrialization Import substitution industrialization (ISI) is a trade and economic policy that advocates replacing foreign imports with domestic production.''A Comprehensive Dictionary of Economics'' p.88, ed. Nelson Brian 2009. It is based on the premise that ...

. This was the basis for the industrialization of Chile. From there sprung the steel, manufacturing and sugar industries. In 1941, due to his rapidly escalating illness, he appointed his Minister of the Interior Jerónimo Méndez as vice-president to succeed him. He died soon after on November 25, 1941 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, whose ...

, Chile, from tuberculosis. Méndez served as acting president until Juan Antonio Rios, elected on February 1, 1942, took office on April 2.

Legacy

In the Chilean Antarctic Expedition in 1950–51, the explorers named the

Aguirre Passage Aguirre Passage (), also variously known as Pasaje Marinero, Canal Aguirre Cerda or Aguirre Channel, is a marine channel between Lemaire Island and Danco Coast, permitting northern access to Paradise Harbor. The feature was navigated by the ship ...

between

Lemaire Island Lemaire Island () is an island long and wide, lying west of Duthiers Point off the west coast of Graham Land, Antarctica. It was discovered by the Belgian Antarctic Expedition, 1897–99, under Adrien de Gerlache, who named it for Charles Ant ...

and

Danco Coast The Danco Coast () is the portion of the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula between Cape Sterneck and Cape Renard. This coast was explored in January and February 1898 by the Belgian Antarctic Expedition under Adrien de Gerlache, who named it f ...

after Don Pedro Aguirre Cerda.

Salvador Allende 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 ...

, one of Aguirre Cerda's close associates and

Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

under his presidency, would become president in 1970.

References

External links

''TIME'' article on the political scene during President Aguirre's first year in power
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aguirre Cerda, Pedro 1879 births 1941 deaths People from Los Andes Province, Chile Chilean people of Basque descent Radical Party of Chile politicians Presidents of Chile Government ministers of Chile Deputies of the XXXI Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile Deputies of the XXXII Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile Senators of the XXXIII Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile Candidates for President of Chile Chilean Freemasons University of Chile alumni Instituto Nacional General José Miguel Carrera alumni 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in Chile

Early life

Presidency

Legacy

See also

References

External links