Pedro Bannen
Pedro Bannen Pradel (10 May 1845 – 20 June 1935) was a Chilean lawyer, farmer and politician who served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile and as a senator for Malleco Province.
A member of the Radical Party, Bannen represented Lautaro and later Concepción, Talcahuano, Lautaro and Coelemu in the Chamber of Deputies before serving in the Senate from 1900 to 1906.
Early life
Bannen was born in Concepción on 10 May 1845 to Pedro Bannen and Margarita Pradel Velásquez. He studied at the Liceo de Concepción and later attended the Faculty of Law of the University of Chile. He qualified as a lawyer on 8 March 1870.
He married Eduarda Mujica, with whom he had one son. He later married Aurora Correa, with whom he had two children. Bannen practiced law and was also involved in agriculture.
Bannen was particularly active in educational initiatives. He founded the Sociedad de Instrucción Primaria de Concepción in 1883, established a school for poor children in 1899 and founded the Sociedad Escuela de Proletarios in 1900. He was also the author of a project for compulsory primary education.
Political career
A member of the Radical Party, Bannen was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for Lautaro for the 1882–1885 term, serving on the permanent committee for constitution, legislation and justice.
He served as substitute deputy for Lautaro from 1885 to 1888 and subsequently as full deputy for the same constituency for the 1888–1891 term. During the latter period, he served on the permanent committee for education and charity.
Bannen was then elected deputy for Concepción, Talcahuano, Lautaro and Coelemu for three consecutive terms, serving from 1891 to 1900. He was second vice president of the Chamber of Deputies from 10 November 1891 to 11 January 1892 and first vice president from 2 June to 2 July 1892. During these terms, he participated in the permanent committee for constitution, legislation and justice and in the Conservative Commission during the congressional recesses of 1894–1895 and 1895–1896.
In 1900, Bannen was elected to the Senate for Malleco Province, serving until 1906. He was a member of the permanent government committee and served as a substitute member of the finance and industry committee.
Bannen was appointed a councillor of state in June 1909. He continued his involvement in educational and social causes after leaving Congress. In 1918, he was publicly honored at the Municipal Theatre of Santiago for his decades of work in education, and that year he also began a campaign against alcoholism and gambling on horse races.
In 1924, he published an expanded and revised edition of his Silabario Bannen, an educational primer intended for practical instruction. The same year, he founded the Radicales Tradicionalistas after having been a member of the Radical Party.
Bannen died in Santiago on 20 June 1935, aged 90.