Belisario Prats Pérez
Belisario Matías Prats Pérez (24 February 1827 – 14 September 1897) was a Chilean lawyer, judge and politician who served as president of the Supreme Court in 1885.
Biography
Prats was born in Santiago on 24 February 1827, the son of politician Martín Prats Urízar and Antonia Pérez Larraín. He studied at the Instituto Nacional, where he subsequently studied law. He was admitted to the bar in 1854.
Prats married Josefina Bello Dunn, a daughter of Venezuelan-Chilean scholar Andrés Bello. They had children.
He died in Santiago on 14 September 1897, aged 70.
Political career
Prats combined his judicial career with extensive political activity. In 1867, he served as a municipal councillor and second mayor of Santiago.
He served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile, representing Coelemu from 1870 to 1873 and Santiago from 1873 to 1876. He was president of the Chamber of Deputies from 1872 to 1875. Prats subsequently served as senator for Aconcagua from 1876 to 1882.
During the government of President José Joaquín Pérez, Prats served as Minister of the Interior and Foreign Affairs from 2 August 1870 to 18 September 1871. Under President Aníbal Pinto, he served as Minister of War and Navy from 1876 to 1877 and as Minister of the Interior from 1878 to 1879.
Prats returned to the cabinet during the government of President José Manuel Balmaceda, serving briefly as Minister of the Interior in 1890.
Judicial career
Prats entered the Chilean judiciary in 1862 as a criminal judge in Santiago. In 1868, he became regent of the Court of Appeals of La Serena.
On 21 May 1870, Prats was appointed a justice of the Court of Appeals of Santiago. He also served as an acting justice of the Supreme Court of Chile between 1872 and 1874.
On 7 November 1880, Prats was appointed a permanent justice of the Supreme Court.
In 1885, Prats became president of the Supreme Court, succeeding José Bernales Urmeneta. He held the presidency during the government of Domingo Santa María and was succeeded by José Cousiño in 1886.
Prats left his position as a justice of the Supreme Court in 1889.