Ramón Santelices
Ramón Eufrasio Santelices Cuevas (14 January 1848 – 1920) was a Chilean politician who served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile, as a member of the Senate for Malleco Province, and four times as Minister of Finance under presidents Federico Errázuriz Echaurren, Germán Riesco and Juan Luis Sanfuentes.
A member of the Conservative Party, he served in both the Chamber of Deputies of Chile and the Senate of Chile. He also held office as Minister of Finance on four occasions between 1900 and 1916.
Biography
Santelices Cuevas was born in Santiago on 14 January 1848, the son of Ramón Santelices Cerda and Manuela Cuevas Avaria. He attended the Seminario Conciliar and later studied at Colegio San Ignacio between 1863 and 1866.
He married María Luisa Bascuñán Valledor, with whom he had three children. Outside politics, he lived as a rentier.
Political career
A member of the Conservative Party, Santelices Cuevas first entered Congress as a substitute deputy for Santiago for the 1879–1882 legislative term. He later returned to the Chamber of Deputies as representative for Llanquihue, Carelmapu and Osorno for the 1891–1894 term.
In 1894, he was elected to the Senate for Malleco, serving until 1900. During his senatorial term, he was a member of the Education and Charitable Affairs Committee and participated in the Conservative Commission during the 1898–1899 congressional recess.
Santelices Cuevas held the Ministry of Finance on four separate occasions. His first tenure ran from 4 October to 3 November 1900. He returned to the ministry from 10 January to 12 April 1904 and again from 19 March to 7 May 1906.
Nearly a decade later, he was appointed to the portfolio for a fourth time, serving from 23 December 1915 until 8 January 1916 under President Juan Luis Sanfuentes.