Arturo Maschke
Arturo Maschke Tornero (18 January 1902 – 4 November 2001) was a Chilean politician who served as a minister.
Biography
Maschke was the son of Arturo Maschke and Ema Tornero.
He attended the Liceo de La Serena and subsequently studied at the Curso Fiscal de Leyes de Valparaíso, now the School of Law of the University of Valparaíso. He qualified as a lawyer in 1925.
Maschke joined the Banco de Chile at a young age, working for the bank in both Valparaíso and Santiago. He later joined the Central Bank of Chile, where he became deputy general manager in 1936 and general manager in 1943, before serving as president of the bank from 1953 to 1959. Maschke succeeded vice-president Luis Schmidt Quezada, who had served as acting president following the departure of Manuel Trucco. Trucco had resigned, and the appointment of a permanent successor had been postponed pending the outcome of the presidential election.
During Maschke's presidency, the Central Bank shifted away from a model based on direct financing of the state towards a greater emphasis on monetary stabilisation, influenced by foreign technical missions. Inflation reached 71% in 1954 and 84% in 1955. Under the influence of the Klein–Saks Mission, the bank strengthened its mechanisms for managing reserve requirements and regulating the money supply.
Maschke served as Chile's governor to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. He was also involved in the early efforts that led to the establishment of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
He also served as a board member of Banco del Estado and as the Central Bank of Chile's representative on the National Council for Foreign Trade.
From 1959 to 1965, Maschke served as Chilean ambassador to West Germany. During his tenure, he invited former Luftwaffe observer Hermann Schmidt and Paul Schäfer, a former member of the Hitler Youth and medic in the German Army, to Chile to engage in charitable work. This initiative contributed to the establishment of the controversial settlement later known as Colonia Dignidad, near Parral in south-central Chile.
From 1973 to 1986, Maschke served as president of the board of Clínica Alemana de Santiago.