Teodoberto Álvarez

Teodoberto Álvarez Álvarez (13 April 1873 – 1952) was a Chilean lawyer, teacher, and Democratic Party politician.

He served as Minister of Lands and Colonization under Juan Esteban Montero, first during Montero's vice presidency and subsequently during his presidency, from 1931 to 1932.

Early life

Álvarez was born in Rere on 13 April 1873, the son of Juan Bautista Álvarez and María Jesús Álvarez Rebolledo.

He studied at the Pedagogical Institute, qualifying as a secondary-school teacher. He subsequently studied law at the University of Chile Law School, completing a thesis entitled Nulidad y rescisión. He was admitted to legal practice by the Supreme Court of Chile on 28 April 1904.

Álvarez married Adelina Guzmán, also a teacher, who served as headmistress of the girls' secondary school in Rancagua from 1920. They had seven children: Edmundo, María, Elsa, Teodoberto, Héctor, Lucía, and Osvaldo.

Political career

Álvarez began his professional career as an official in the Ministry of Justice and Public Instruction, where he worked until 1906. He subsequently entered private legal practice and later worked as a lawyer for the Caja de Crédito Agrario and the Corporación de Fomento de la Producción (CORFO).

A member of the Democratic Party, Álvarez stood unsuccessfully for election to the Chamber of Deputies for the departments of Temuco and Imperial in the 1906 parliamentary election.

On 15 November 1931, Vice President Juan Esteban Montero appointed Álvarez Minister of Lands and Colonization. After Montero assumed the presidency, Álvarez remained in the cabinet and continued to head the ministry until 8 April 1932.

Álvarez was also a member of the Liga de Estudiantes Pobres and the Unión Comercial de Santiago. His political and civic associations included the Centro Federico Errázuriz, Centro La Reforma, and Centro Juventud Demócrata, organizations associated with the Democratic Party.

He died in Santiago in 1952.

Works

  • La evolución inglesa y el régimen parlamentario (1924).
  • Los errores de la ciencia política (1933).