Manuel Salas Lavaqui
Manuel Salas Lavaqui (18 December 1856 – 7 December 1925) was a Chilean lawyer and politician who served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies for Valparaíso and Casablanca in 1891 and for Santiago from 1903 to 1909.
A member of the Liberal Democratic Party, he also served as Minister of Justice in 1906.
Biography
Salas was born in Santiago on 18 December 1856, the son of Pablo Salas Bello and Mercedes Lavaqui Ureta. He studied at the Instituto Nacional and later at the Faculty of Law of the University of Chile. He qualified as a lawyer on 23 March 1880.
He married Luisa Troncoso Aldunate, with whom he had children.
Professional career
Salas served as a section chief at the Ministry of the Navy in 1880 and became an undersecretary in 1887. He later served as prosecutor of the Caja de Crédito Hipotecario and was a member of the Superior Council of Public Instruction from 1904 to 1919.
He became a member of the Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities in 1907 and a corresponding member of the Royal Spanish Academy in 1914. Salas also served as director of the newspaper El Ferrocarril in 1911 and was a founder of the Instituto de Educación Física de Santiago and the Instituto Comercial de Antofagasta.
Political career
A member of the Liberal Democratic Party, Salas was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for Valparaíso and Casablanca in the Constituent Congress of 1891. During this period, he served on the War and Navy Committee.
He returned to the Chamber as deputy for Santiago for the 1903–1906 legislative term and was reelected for the same constituency for the 1906–1909 term. He served on and presided over the Legislation and Justice Committee and was a member of the Conservative Commission during the 1904–1905 parliamentary recess.
Salas served as Minister of Justice from 19 March to 7 May 1906.
He died in Viña del Mar on 7 December 1925, aged 68.