Carlos Vial Infante
Carlos Vial Infante | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Minister of Defense | |
| In office 28 September 1963 – 3 November 1964 | |
| President | Jorge Alessandri |
| Preceded by | Julio Pereira Larraín |
| Succeeded by | Juan de Dios Carmona |
| In office 3 November 1958 – 25 April 1961 | |
| President | Jorge Alessandri |
| Preceded by | Luis Vidal Vargas |
| Succeeded by | Joaquín Fernández Fernández |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 8 October 1892 |
| Died | 6 March 1986 (aged 93) |
| Spouse | Julia Correa |
| Children | Two |
| Alma mater | Pontifical Catholic University of Chile |
| Profession | Civil engineer |
Carlos Vial Infante (8 October 1892 – 6 March 1986) was a Chilean civil engineer, businessman, and politician. He was a member of the Liberal Party (PL).[1] He served as a Minister of State — in the portfolio of National Defense — during the administration of President Jorge Alessandri, from 1958 to 1961 and again from 1963 to 1964.[2]
Family and education
Vial was born in the town of Berck in France on 8 October 1892, the son of Clarencia Aurora Ricania Demetria Infante Concha and the military officer and politician Juan de Dios Gerónimo Vial Guzmán, who served as a deputy and as Minister of Finance during the administration of President José Manuel Balmaceda.[3] One of his seven siblings, Alberto, served as a deputy in 1924 and as a senator between 1926 and 1932, representing the Conservative Party.[4][3] Vial completed his primary and secondary education at the Colegio San Pedro Nolasco in Santiago.[3] He continued his higher education at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (PUC), where he qualified as a civil engineer in the mid-1910s.[3][4]
He married Julia Amelia Correa García in Santiago on 25 November 1916 (daughter of Paulina García Vidaurre and José Correa Sanfuentes, who served as a municipal councillor of Mostazal between 1904 and 1907), with whom he had two children: Carlos and Amelia.[3][4] The former, an agricultural engineer, later served as mayor of the commune of Pirque representing the Liberal Party.[1]
Private activity
Vial worked extensively in the private sector, being a partner in the construction firm Constructora Saa Vial,[3] and serving as chairman of the board of several companies, including the Compañía Sudamericana de Vapores and the Banco Sud Americano.[3] He also served as a director of the Central Bank of Chile, the Compañía de Petróleos de Chile (Copec), and the insurance company “La Marítima”.[3] In 1937, he commissioned architect Fernando de la Cruz to build the mansion that is כיום owned by the Universidad Finis Terrae on Avenida Pedro de Valdivia in Santiago.[5]
He also owned the estate “El Llano de Pirque” in the commune of Pirque, valued at 470,000 pesos in 1908.[3]
Public activity
A member of the Liberal Party,[1] Vial joined the first cabinet of President Jorge Alessandri on 3 November 1958 as Minister of National Defence.[6] He left the ministry on 25 April 1961, but returned on 26 September 1963, serving until the end of the administration on 3 November 1964.[3][4]
Among other activities, he was a member of the Club de la Unión, the Sociedad Nacional de Agricultura (SNA), the Club de Golf Los Leones, the Club Hípico de Santiago, and the Automóvil Club de Chile. He died in Santiago on 6 March 1986, aged 93.[3]
References
- ^ a b c "Anales de la República: Carlos Vial Infante". anales.cl. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
- ^ Valencia Avaria, Luis (1986). Anales de la República: registros de los ciudadanos que han integrado los Poderes Ejecutivo y Legislativo (2nd ed.). Santiago, Chile: Editorial Andrés Bello.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k de Ramón Folch, Armando (2003). Biografías de chilenos: miembros de los poderes Ejecutivo, Legislativo y Judicial (1876–1973). Vol. IV. Santiago: Ediciones Universidad Católica de Chile. p. 262.
- ^ a b c d Mauricio Pilleux (2021). "Genealogía de la Familia Vial". genealog.cl. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
- ^ "Pirque: Donde el campo tiene aires europeos". El Mercurio. Santiago. 26 May 2007. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
- ^ La Vanguardia (28 October 1958). Información del extranjero: Alessandri anuncia su nuevo gobierno (PDF). Barcelona. p. 15.
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