Adolfo Valderrama
Adolfo Valderrama Sainz de la Peña (1834 – 30 November 1902) was a Chilean physician, writer and politician who served as Minister of Justice, Worship and Public Instruction under President José Manuel Balmaceda and as president of the Senate of Chile.
In addition to his medical and political career, Valderrama was active as a poet, novelist and essayist and was a member of the Chilean Academy of Language.
Early life
Valderrama was born in La Serena in 1834 to Juan Fernández de Valderrama Antón del Olmet and Dolores Sainz de la Peña y Sainz de la Peña. He married Felipa Téllez Ossa, with whom he had two children.
He studied at the Liceo de La Serena and later medicine and literature, qualifying as a physician and surgeon in 1860. Before graduating, he treated wounded soldiers from the battles of Los Loros and Cerro Grande. He subsequently worked at the San Francisco de Borja and San Vicente hospitals and held several academic positions in medicine and literature.
Valderrama taught pathology and anatomy at the medical school and rhetoric and poetics at the Instituto Nacional. He also served as secretary of the University of Chile between 1887 and 1888 and retired as a professor of its Faculty of Medicine in 1896.
Political career
A member of the Liberal Party, Valderrama was elected substitute senator for Ñuble for the 1882–1888 term, but became ineligible to serve after accepting another appointment. In 1885, he was elected senator for Aconcagua for the remainder of the same term, replacing José Eugenio Vergara Galeas, and took his seat on 3 June 1885.
Under President José Manuel Balmaceda, Valderrama served as Minister of Justice, Worship and Public Instruction from 30 November 1886 until June 1887. He was reelected senator for Aconcagua for the 1888–1894 term and served as president of the Senate from 22 October 1888 to 5 June 1889.
During the 1891 Chilean Civil War, Valderrama remained a supporter of Balmaceda. He represented Aconcagua in the Constituent Congress from 15 April to 18 August 1891. After the conflict, he helped organize the Liberal Democratic Party and presided over its convention in Talca.
Valderrama was also active in Chilean medical and literary institutions. He served twice as president of the Medical Society of Chile and was a member of the Chilean Academy of Language from 1885 to 1895.
He died in Santiago on 30 November 1902.