Diego Barros Ortiz

Diego Barros Ortiz (Vienna, 2 March 1908 – Santiago, 27 December 1990) was a Chilean aviator and poet.

Early life

Barros Ortiz was the son of General Tobías Barros Merino and Julia Ortiz García. He was born in Vienna, where his father was serving as a military attaché to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and moved to Chile at the age of three.

He studied at the Instituto Nacional General José Miguel Carrera and the Internado Nacional Barros Arana. He graduated from the Military Academy in 1928 as an artillery officer.

In 1927, he was one of the survivors of the Alpatacal tragedy. He entered the Military Aeronautics School in 1929. In the Chilean Air Force, he served as a military pilot and as commander of No. 5 Aviation Group in Puerto Montt. He attained the rank of Air Brigade General and served as Commander-in-Chief of the Chilean Air Force from 1955 to 1961.

He married Ester Plaza, with whom he had three daughters. Following her death, he married Hortencia Melet Serra, with whom he had two children.

Public life

While serving as Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, Barros Ortiz was also Minister of Education from 1957 to 1958, during the second government of Carlos Ibáñez del Campo.

Barros Ortiz began writing poetry at an early age, composing the poem Don Diego Calatrava when he was 14. He wrote Camaradas, the anthem of the Chilean Air Force, as well as the anthems of Aviation Groups Nos. 1, 4, and 5. In 1974, he wrote the anthem of the Investigations Police of Chile. He also wrote songs including Bajando pa' Puerto Aysén, Bajo el sauzal, Niña de los ojos claros, Porque tengo pena, and Guitarra, mujer y penas.

Diego Barros Ortiz died at the Chilean Air Force Hospital on 27 December 1990, aged 82. He was buried in the Air Force mausoleum at the General Cemetery of Santiago.