Baldomero Estrada
Baldomero Estrada Turra is a Chilean historian and academic whose research has focused on the history of Chile, particularly immigration to Chile, the history of foreign communities, and the social and economic development of Valparaíso.
He has been a professor at the Institute of History of the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso (PUCV), where he has also served as director of the Institute and dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and Education.
His research has examined the British, German, Spanish, Jewish, and Japanese communities in Chile, particularly their integration and economic and social activities in Valparaíso during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Early life
Estrada studied history at the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso, where he obtained a degree in history and qualified as a teacher of history, geography and social sciences.
He subsequently studied in the United States, receiving a Master of Arts in history from the University of Pittsburgh, and later earned a doctorate in history from the Complutense University of Madrid in Spain.
Scholar career
Estrada developed his academic career at the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso, becoming a full professor at its Institute of History. He served in several administrative positions at the university, including academic secretary and, on several occasions, director of the Institute of History.
From 1986 to 1990, Estrada served as director of the Institute of History. He later became dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and Education in 1999. A 2006 article published in the journal Historia of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile identified Estrada as dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and Education.
Estrada's historiographical research has focused primarily on international migration to Chile and the role played by immigrant communities in the economic, demographic and social development of Valparaíso. His work has examined migration from Europe as well as the integration of different ethnic communities into Chilean society.
One strand of his research has concerned the British community in Valparaíso. In a 2006 study published in Historia, Estrada examined the community's role in international trade and industrial activity during the first half of the twentieth century, as well as its declining economic and demographic importance after the First World War.
Estrada has also studied Spanish immigration. His 2012 article "Evolución demográfica y familiar de la colectividad española en Valparaíso, 1880–1950", published by the University of Chile's Cuadernos de Historia, analysed the demographic and socioeconomic evolution of the Spanish community using civil registry and notarial records.
His studies of the German community have addressed its economic importance and the role of women in the migration process. A 2014 study examined the social activity, employment, family life and ethnic identity of German women in Valparaíso during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Estrada has additionally researched the Jewish community of Valparaíso and Viña del Mar. In 2021, he published a study of exogamous marriage as an indicator of the integration of the Jewish community into Chilean society between 1950 and 2000.
His research on Japanese migration has examined both Chilean-Japanese diplomatic initiatives and attitudes towards Japanese immigrants. Together with José Antonio González Pizarro, Claudio Llanos Reyes and Marcelo Lufin Varas, he studied Japanese migration projects in Chile between 1913 and 1930. In 2023, he published a study of Japanese immigration to Valparaíso between 1900 and 1940, examining restrictions and xenophobic attitudes encountered by Japanese migrants.
Estrada has also written institutional and regional histories. In 2016, he published Historia de la Escuela y de la Facultad de Derecho de la Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, 1894–2014, a history of the university's law school and faculty.
Selected works
- Estrada Turra, Baldomero. Colectividad española en Valparaíso: demografía y empleo, 1880–1930.
- Estrada Turra, Baldomero. Valparaíso, progresos y conflictos de una ciudad-puerto (1830–1950).
- Estrada Turra, Baldomero (2016). Historia de la Escuela y de la Facultad de Derecho de la Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, 1894–2014. Valparaíso: Ediciones Universitarias de Valparaíso.
- Estrada Turra, Baldomero (2018). La azarosa y difícil aventura de migrar: Españoles en Chile (1880–1950).
- Estrada Turra, Baldomero. Alemanes en Valparaíso (1830–1930): Globalización en América Latina.
- Estrada Turra, Baldomero. Inmigración internacional en Chile.
- Estrada Turra, Baldomero. Valparaíso: Historia y patrimonio.
- Estrada Turra, Baldomero (2019). Juan Andueza: alcalde de los cerros e intendente de la integración.
- Estrada Turra, Baldomero (2021). 50 años del Consejo de Rectores de Valparaíso, 1969–2019.
- Estrada Turra, Baldomero (2021). Benjamín Prado Casas: un político regional con dimensión nacional.