Tomás Burgos Sotomayor (September 18, 1875 in Osorno – August 19, 1945 in

Valdivia Valdivia (; Mapuche: Ainil) is a city and commune in southern Chile, administered by the Municipality of Valdivia. The city is named after its founder, Pedro de Valdivia, and is located at the confluence of the Calle-Calle, Valdivia, and ...

) 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 ...

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

, one of the strongest supporters of the "mutualist movement" and the founder of "Villa Lo Burgos", the present city of

Purranque Purranque is a city in the Chilean Los Lagos Region, which lies on the Pan-American Highway about north of Puerto Montt. It is part of the Osorno Province. History The first ethnically identifiable inhabitants of the area were Huilliches, an ind ...

About

Sotomayor was the son of Bartolo Burgos and Vicenta Sotomayor, from the line of old families that repopulated Osorno in the 18th century. He studied in the "Liceo Alemán de Osorno" (''German school of Osorno''), and started to work very young in a law office. He also participated in social and musical clubs. In 1891 he joined the then fledgling mutualist movement in Chile, and became one of the founders of the "Sociedad Unión de Artesanos de Osorno" (''Society of Artisans of Osorno'' - a union of workers that provided welfare benefits to its members), of which he was president several times. On April 18, 1911 he founded ''Villa Lo Burgos de Purranquil'', in a plot of land along the railroad line between the cities of Osorno and

Puerto Montt Puerto Montt (Mapuche: Meli Pulli) is a port city and commune in southern Chile, located at the northern end of the Reloncaví Sound in the Llanquihue Province, Los Lagos Region, 1,055 km to the south of the capital, Santiago. The commune ...

. After many problems, he managed to plan and build the city, helped to bring the first settlers, and organized the first institutions. With time this

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

grew to become the present city of

. He married Sofía Rosas Durán, daughter of Felix Rosas Manrique de Lara, and had four children: Victor, Pedro, Francisco and Pablo. He died in the city of

, in 1945, at the age of 70.

References

Tomás Burgos Sotomayor:su biografía a 99 años de la fundación de Purranque, El Austral, 18 April 2010.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burgos, Tomas 1875 births 1945 deaths People from Osorno, Chile 20th-century Chilean lawyers