Jorge Valdivieso
Jorge Valdivieso Blanco (29 April 1867 – 24 October 1943) was a Chilean lawyer and politician who served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile, as Minister of the Navy under President Juan Luis Sanfuentes, and as Intendant of Santiago Province.
Valdivieso was a director of the Santiago Fire Department and an honorary member of the San Bernardo Fire Department. He was also an honorary member of the Club de la Unión.
Early life
Valdivieso was born in Santiago on 29 April 1867 to Ramón Valdivieso Cruzat and Luisa Blanco Viel. He received his secondary education from the Jesuits and later studied law at the University of Chile, although he did not pursue a legal career. He was instead involved in managing agricultural properties from an early age.
On 29 April 1889, he married Josefina Barros Izquierdo, a daughter of historian Diego Barros Arana. The couple had several children.
He died in Santiago on 24 October 1943, aged 76.
Political career
Valdivieso became involved with the Liberal Party as a young man. His early political activity included participation in Vicente Reyes's unsuccessful presidential campaign in 1896.
His first elected offices were at the municipal level. Beginning in 1897, he served two consecutive terms as a municipal councillor in San Bernardo and spent three years as mayor. During his municipal career, he promoted local infrastructure projects and helped establish the city's fire department.
Valdivieso entered the Chamber of Deputies as deputy for La Victoria and Melipilla for the 1903–1906 term. His election was formally approved on 20 November 1903, several weeks after he joined the Chamber, and he served as a substitute member of the permanent committee on elections.
He retained the constituency for the 1906–1909 term, serving on the charitable and religious affairs committee and as a substitute member of the foreign relations committee. After an interval outside Congress, he returned as deputy for Santiago for the 1912–1915 term and sat on the foreign relations and colonization committee.
For his fourth term, from 1915 to 1918, Valdivieso Blanco again represented La Victoria and Melipilla and continued his work on the foreign relations and colonization committee. He also participated on the Mixed Budget Commission and on special commissions concerned with public education and municipal reform.
Within the Liberal Party, he served as a director of the Club Liberal and subsequently became its president, remaining in that position for two years before leaving Chile for Europe.
Minister
President Juan Luis Sanfuentes appointed Valdivieso Blanco Minister of War and Navy on 22 April 1918. He held the portfolio until 6 September of that year. Throughout the same period, he simultaneously served as acting Minister of Finance.
In September 1920, Valdivieso Blanco was appointed intendant of Santiago. His tenure included involvement in the resolution of labor disputes in the province.