Manuel José Piñera Carvallo (22 September 1917 – 3 June 1991) was a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

an engineer, diplomat, and

Christian Democratic Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well ...

politician. He was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 1917 and died in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

in 1991.

Early life

Piñera Carvallo was the son of lawyer José Manuel Piñera Figueroa and Elena Carvallo Castillo. His great-grandfather, José Piñera Lombera, a native of

Lima, Peru Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

, but from

Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

, arrived in La Serena in 1827, being the first Piñera to arrive in Chile. José Piñera Carvallo lived in

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, where he received a secular education in conjunction with his siblings Bernardino (doctor and bishop), Paulette and Marie Louise. At 17, he returned to

, studying at the Padres Franceses school in the capital and then in the School of Engineering at the Catholic University of Chile.

Personal life

While still young he married Magdalena Echenique Rozas, daughter of José Miguel Echenique Correa and Josefa Rozas Ariztía. Carvallo's mother was the granddaughter of the aristocratic Luisa Pinto Garmendia, daughter of President

Francisco Antonio Pinto Francisco Antonio Pinto y Díaz de la Puente (; July 23, 1785 – July 18, 1858) was a Chilean politician who served as President of Chile between 1827 and 1829. Early life He was born in Santiago, the son of Joaquín Pinto and Mercedes D ...

, sister of President Aníbal Pinto and sister in law of President

Manuel Bulnes Manuel Bulnes Prieto (; December 25, 1799 – October 18, 1866) was a Chilean military and political figure who was President of Chile from 1841 to 1851. Born in Concepción, he served as the president of Chile between 1841 and 1851. At the ...

. With Magdalena Carvallo had six children: Guadalupe,

José José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced ...

, Sebastián, Pablo, Miguel, and Magdalena. He separated from his wife in 1975. He died of

pulmonary emphysema Emphysema is any air-filled enlargement in the body's tissues. Most commonly emphysema refers to the permanent enlargement of air spaces ( alveoli) in the lungs, and is also known as pulmonary emphysema. Emphysema is a lower respiratory tract d ...

in 1991.

Political career

In university Piñera Carvallo joined the National Falange, the germ of the Christian Democratic Party, of which he was a founding member. He was founder and first president of the Federation of Catholic University Students (FEUC). In 1954 he joined the state Production Development Corporation (CORFO), where he worked virtually his entire life. During the government of President

Eduardo Frei Montalva Eduardo Nicanor Frei Montalva (; 16 January 1911 – 22 January 1982) was a Chileans, Chilean political leader. In his long political career, he was Minister of Public Works, president of his Christian Democratic Party (Chile), Christia ...

, he was appointed ambassador, first to

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and then to the UN in the United States. As representative in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

he participated in the management of Chile's external debt, working closely with another diplomat, Gabriel Valdes.

Recognition

In 1967, Piñera Carvallo received the Grand Cross of the

Order of Isabella the Catholic The Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic (; Abbreviation, Abbr.: OYC) is a knighthood and one of the three preeminent Order of merit, orders of merit bestowed by the Kingdom of Spain, alongside the Order of Charles III (established in 1771) and ...

(Spain).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Piñera Carvallo, Jose Permanent representatives of Chile to the United Nations 1917 births 1991 deaths Jose 20th-century Chilean engineers Christian Democratic Party (Chile) politicians Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic Pontifical Catholic University of Chile alumni Ambassadors of Chile to Belgium Ambassadors of Chile to Luxembourg Presidents of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile Student Federation Chilean expatriates in France