Manuel José Gandarillas
Manuel José Gandarillas Guzmán (1789 – 24 November 1842) was a Chilean lawyer, journalist and politician. He served as Minister of Finance, Minister of the Interior and Foreign Affairs, a deputy and senator, and participated in the drafting of the Constitution of 1833.
Education
Gandarillas was born in Santiago in 1789, the son of José Santiago Gandarillas Romero and Carmen Guzmán Ibáñez.
He studied philosophy and law at the Royal University of San Felipe, receiving bachelor's degrees in philosophy in 1810 and in canon law and law in 1813. He entered the Academy of Forensic Practice in 1812 and qualified as a lawyer on 15 May 1824. He later served as president of the Academy of Law and Forensic Practice.
Political career
Gandarillas supported the Chilean independence movement and was associated with the Carrera faction. Following the Patriot defeat at the Battle of Rancagua in 1814, he went into exile in Argentina and Uruguay, where he participated in journalistic activities in support of the independence cause. He returned permanently to Chile in 1823 and served as director of the National Library of Chile until 1825.
Under Ramón Freire, Gandarillas served as Minister of Finance from November 1825 to September 1826 and briefly as acting Minister of the Navy. He subsequently served as Minister of the Interior and Foreign Affairs under Agustín Eyzaguirre from October 1826 to May 1827.
He represented Huasco in Congress from 1824 until his resignation in 1825 and later served in the Provincial Assembly of Santiago. Although elected for Valdivia in 1828, he did not take his seat. In 1831, he was elected senator for Santiago and remained in the Senate until his death in 1842.
Gandarillas participated in the Grand Convention that drafted the Constitution of 1833, working closely with Mariano Egaña. He was also a prominent political journalist, contributing to several publications and becoming one of the founders and editors of El Araucano.
In addition to his parliamentary work, President José Joaquín Prieto appointed him to the Council of State and as a justice of the Supreme Court of Chile in 1833. Gandarillas died in Santiago on 24 November 1842.