Domingo Godoy Cruz
Domingo Hilarión Godoy Cruz (13 January 1847 – 16 July 1916) was a Chilean lawyer, diplomat, judge and politician who served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile and the Senate of Chile, as well as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Worship and Colonization under President José Manuel Balmaceda.
He also served in Chile's diplomatic missions to Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador.
Early life
Godoy was born in Santiago on 13 January 1847 to Pedro Godoy Palacios and Rosario Cruz. He married Victoria Pérez Díaz on 28 April 1887, with whom he had children.
He studied at the Instituto Nacional and later studied law at the University of Chile, qualifying as a lawyer in 1882. As a student, he contributed to the newspapers La Libertad and La Aurora, and later wrote for La República in 1869.
Political career
Godoy entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1871 as head of its diplomatic section. He was elected substitute deputy for Freirina for the 1873–1876 legislative term and later substitute deputy for San Carlos for the 1879–1882 term.
In 1879, Godoy was appointed minister plenipotentiary to Colombia and Venezuela. While traveling to his post during the War of the Pacific, he and his secretary Belisario Vial were detained by Peruvian authorities and held in Tacna before being released later that year. In 1882, he was appointed Chilean minister to Ecuador, where he remained for two years.
Godoy was appointed a criminal judge in Santiago in 1889. A member of the Liberal Democratic Party, he was elected senator for Biobío to the Constituent Congress of 1891, serving from 15 April to 18 August.
Under President José Manuel Balmaceda, Godoy served as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Worship and Colonization from 15 October 1890 to 12 March 1891. He concurrently served as acting Minister of the Interior from 7 January to 23 February 1891. Following Balmaceda's defeat in the 1891 Chilean Civil War, Godoy lost his judicial position and went into exile in Argentina, returning to Santiago in 1896.
Godoy died in Santiago on 16 July 1916, aged 69.