Enrique Villegas Echiburú

Enrique Villegas Echiburú

Enrique Villegas Echiburú (1874 – 29 July 1934) was a Chilean politician, lawyer and diplomat who served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile and held several ministerial and diplomatic posts.

A member of the Liberal Democratic Party, he was first elected deputy for Copiapó, Chañaral, Vallenar and Freirina, serving from 1900 to 1909. He later represented Taltal and Tocopilla from 1912 to 1918. During his parliamentary career, he served on the Public Works, Industry, Internal Police, and Foreign Relations and Colonization commissions, and was second vice president of the Chamber of Deputies in 1907.

A lawyer by profession, he studied at the Colegio Inglés de Mr. Radford in Santiago and later studied law at the University of Chile, obtaining his professional qualification in 1896. His legal practice focused particularly on mining and the nitrate industry.

Villegas also served as Minister of Justice and Public Instruction from August 1912 to January 1913 and as Minister of Foreign Affairs from January 1913 to September 1914. He later served as minister plenipotentiary to Italy in 1918 and as a Chilean diplomatic representative in Italy and the United Kingdom.