Alfonso Quijano Olivares

Alfonso Quijano Olivares (31 March 1897 – 1953) was a Chilean physician, surgeon and politician who was a member of the Democratic Party.

He served as Minister of Public Health during the so-called Socialist Republic of Chile, under the administration of Carlos Dávila, and subsequently under the provisional administration of General Bartolomé Blanche between June and October 1932.

Early life

Quijano was born in San Javier, Chile, on 31 March 1897, the son of Francisco Quijano and Jovita Olivares. He studied at the School of Medicine of the University of Chile, graduating as a physician and surgeon. He later undertook specialist studies in tuberculosis.

He married Guadalupe Fernández Ceballos, with whom he had six children: Luz, Juan José, Alfonso, Felipe, Paloma and Álvaro Quijano Fernández.

Public career

Quijano practised medicine and served as an assistant to physician and professor Ernesto Prado Tagle.

A member of the Democratic Party, Quijano was appointed Minister of Public Health on 16 June 1932 during the provisional presidency of Carlos Dávila. He remained in office during the subsequent provisional administration of General Bartolomé Blanche, which ended on 2 October 1932. In the parliamentary election of 30 October 1932, he stood as a candidate for the Chamber of Deputies in Santiago's 3rd district, but was not elected.

Between 1933 and 1938, Quijano collaborated with President Arturo Alessandri during his second administration.

Quijano died in 1953.