Francisco Ovalle
Francisco Javier Ovalle Bezanilla (10 May 1816 – 9 June 1873) was a Chilean lawyer and politician. He served as Minister of Justice, Worship and Public Instruction and Minister of the Interior and Foreign Affairs under President Manuel Montt, and was president of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile from 1859 to 1861. He later served as a member of the Senate of Chile.
Education
Ovalle was born in Santiago on 10 May 1816 and was baptized the following day at the Sagrario parish. He was the son of José Tomás Ovalle, who served as provisional president of Chile between 1829 and 1831, and Rafaela Bezanilla Bezanilla.
He studied at the Instituto Nacional and qualified as a lawyer in 1840. In 1838, he accompanied Mariano Egaña on a diplomatic mission to Peru, and in 1842 he served as an official of the Chilean legation there.
Ovalle married María Concepción Reyes Gómez. They had three children: Enrique, María Luisa and Rosa. His son Enrique later served as a substitute deputy for Parral.
Political career
Ovalle was elected deputy for Parral for the 1852–1855 legislative term, during which he served on the Permanent Commission on Finance and Industry. He was subsequently elected deputy for Santiago for the 1855–1858 term.
Under President Manuel Montt, Ovalle was appointed Minister of Justice, Worship and Public Instruction by decree on 3 May 1855 and assumed office on 9 May. During his tenure, he submitted to Congress the bill containing the Chilean Civil Code drafted by Andrés Bello. The measure was approved by both chambers and promulgated on 14 December 1855. Ovalle remained minister until 28 October 1856.
At the beginning of Montt's second presidential term, Ovalle was appointed Minister of the Interior and Foreign Affairs on 18 September 1856. During his tenure, he became involved in the political and ecclesiastical dispute known as the Sacristan question, a major conflict between the government and the Catholic hierarchy. He left the ministry on 31 October 1856.
Ovalle was elected deputy for Rere for the 1858–1861 term and served on the Permanent Commission on Government and Foreign Affairs. On 4 June 1859, he was elected president of the Chamber of Deputies, succeeding Manuel Valenzuela Castillo. He remained president until 6 June 1861, when he was succeeded by Waldo Silva Algüe.
In 1859, Ovalle acquired the Lo Beltrán estate, located between the Mapocho River and the road to Vitacura. The property had previously been granted by the Santiago municipal council to Argentine general José de San Martín in 1817.
In 1861, Ovalle was elected to the Senate of Chile for the 1861–1870 term. He served on the Permanent Commission on Government and Foreign Affairs and was a member of the Conservative Commission during the congressional recesses of 1862–1863 and 1863–1864.
Ovalle died in Santiago on 9 June 1873, aged 57.