Ramón Subercaseaux Pérez
Ramón Guillermo del Carmen Subercaseaux Pérez (14 April 1872 – 6 March 1959) was a Chilean politician who served as a minister.
Subercaseaux held a number of positions in financial and commercial institutions. He was a director of the Sociedad Explotadora de Tierra del Fuego and participated in the establishment of the Central Bank of Chile, serving as its president in 1933. In 1934, he became president of the Instituto de Estudios Bancarios, an institution that was later named after him.
His international activities included membership in the Pan-American High Commission and the Economic Committee of the League of Nations. He was also affiliated with several professional and academic organizations concerned with economics and public policy, including the Academy of Political Science in New York, the Société d'Économie Politique in Paris, the American Economic Association, the Instituto de Ingenieros de Chile and the Sociedad Belga de Estudios y Expansión in Liège.
In Chile, he was associated with the Council of Public Instruction and was an honorary member of the Sociedad de Fomento Fabril.
Early life
Subercaseaux was the son of Antonio Subercaseaux Vicuña and Gertrudis Pérez Flórez, a daughter of Chilean president José Joaquín Pérez. He studied humanities at St. Ignatius College, Santiago and mathematics at the Instituto Nacional. He later attended the University of Chile, graduating as a civil engineer in 1894. He initially worked as an engineer before entering politics as a member of the Conservative Party.
He married Mercedes Rivas Ramírez, with whom he had two children.
Political career
Subercaseaux served as Minister of Finance in 1907. Alongside his public career, he wrote on political economy and contributed to economic publications in Germany, Belgium, France and the United States.
At a scientific congress held in Santiago in 1908, he presented a study examining paper money from historical and monetary perspectives.
In 1915, together with Alberto Edwards Vives and Francisco Antonio Encina, he was among the founders of the Nationalist Party.
Subercaseaux was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for San Carlos for the 1915–1918 term. He served on the Permanent Commission on Finance and Agriculture and was a member of a commission concerned with banking legislation, where he introduced a proposal for the establishment of a currency conversion fund.
He returned to the Finance Ministry from 1919 to 1920 and served for a third time from 1923 to 1924.
In 1924, Subercaseaux was elected to the Senate of Chile for Ñuble Province for the 1924–1930 term. He served on the Permanent Commission on Finance and Municipal Loans. His senatorial term ended prematurely when the National Congress was dissolved in September 1924.