José Ramón Lira
José Ramón Lira Calvo (7 October 1807 – 1876) was a Chilean lawyer and politician who served as Minister of War and Navy from 1870 to 1871 under President José Joaquín Pérez. He was also a member of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile and the Senate of Chile and served as intendant of Chiloé, Santiago, Coquimbo and Valparaíso.
Education
Lira was born at the San José de Toro estate in Chimbarongo on 7 October 1807, the son of José Santos Lira Contreras and Carmen Calvo Argomedo. His brothers José Santos Lira Calvo, Pedro Francisco Lira Argomedo and José Toribio Lira Argomedo also served in the Chilean Congress.
He studied humanities at the Instituto Nacional. He began his legal studies on 21 October 1828, completed them on 4 March 1830 and qualified as a lawyer on 27 March of that year. He subsequently served as defender of minors in Santiago.
On 7 March 1841, Lira married María Josefa Carrera Fontecilla, daughter of Chilean independence leader José Miguel Carrera. They had six children: Carlos, Mercedes, José Luis, José Carlos, Rosa and Ramón. Several of his descendants pursued public careers; the priest and Thomist philosopher Osvaldo Lira was his great-grandson.
Political career
Lira entered public service in 1827 as an official of the Secretariat of the Senate of Chile. On 9 March 1848, he was appointed commander of arms of Chiloé and, on 29 April, intendant of the province. During his administration, the government organized the Chilean expedition that consolidated possession of the Strait of Magellan. The expedition preceded the arrival of a French expedition with similar territorial objectives.
He entered the Chamber of Deputies of Chile as deputy for Ancud for the 1855–1858 legislative term, serving on the Permanent Commission on Ecclesiastical Affairs. He subsequently represented Quinchao from 1858 to 1861.
Lira combined his parliamentary career with senior provincial administration. He was appointed intendant of Santiago in 1858 and intendant of Coquimbo in 1861. In 1865, the government transferred him to Valparaíso, where he was serving as intendant when the Spanish fleet carried out the Bombardment of Valparaíso on 31 March 1866 during the Chincha Islands War.
He returned to the Chamber of Deputies as representative for Castro for the 1867–1870 term. On 18 March 1870, he was appointed public prosecutor of the Santiago Court of Appeals, a position he retained until his death.
In 1870, Lira was elected to the Senate of Chile and took his seat on 22 June. He served on the Permanent Commission on War and Navy and participated in the Constituent Congress of 1870, which considered reforms to the Constitution of 1833. He was also a member of the Conservative Commission during the 1873–1874 congressional recess.
Under President José Joaquín Pérez, Lira was appointed Minister of War and Navy on 2 August 1870, succeeding Francisco Echaurren. He remained in office until the end of Pérez's presidency on 18 September 1871 and was succeeded by Eulogio Altamirano.
Although elected to a senatorial term nominally extending from 1870 to 1879, Lira's mandate ended in 1876 under the transitional provisions of the constitutional reform enacted on 24 October 1874.
Lira died in Santiago in 1876 while serving as public prosecutor of the Santiago Court of Appeals.