Emilio Varas
Emilio Crisólogo Varas Fernández (1840 – 27 May 1911) was a Chilean lawyer, diplomat and National Party politician. He served as Minister of Justice, Worship and Public Instruction under President Domingo Santa María, held several judicial and diplomatic posts, and was elected to the Chamber of Deputies of Chile.
Education
Varas was born in Cauquenes in 1840, the son of parliamentarian Vicente Varas de la Barra and Carmen Fernández Moraga. He was a nephew of politician Antonio Varas and married Elisa Cepeda, with whom he had children.
He studied at the secondary school in his hometown before entering the Instituto Nacional on 29 May 1855. He later studied law at the University of Chile and was admitted to practice as a lawyer on 21 May 1864. In 1861, while completing his education, he was appointed professor of Latin and grammar at the Instituto Nacional.
Political and public career
Varas entered public service in 1859 as an official in the Ministry of Justice. A member of the National Party, he was elected substitute deputy for Quillota for the 1870–1873 legislative term and participated in the Constituent Congress of 1870, convened to consider reforms to the Constitution of 1833.
He was elected deputy for Illapel for the 1882–1885 term. However, he did not take his seat after being appointed a judge of the La Serena Court of Appeals on 20 April 1882, and substitute deputy Juan Agustín Barriga consequently assumed the position. That same year, Varas was appointed Chilean envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the United States.
Under President Domingo Santa María, Varas served as Minister of Justice, Worship and Public Instruction from 22 October 1885 until 18 September 1886. He succeeded José Ignacio Vergara and was in turn succeeded by Pedro Montt.
In 1887, Varas was appointed superintendent of the Santiago Mint, leaving the position after being named envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to Brazil.
In 1890, he became public prosecutor of the Santiago Court of Appeals. He still held that position during the Chilean Civil War of 1891, after which he was dismissed because of his support for President José Manuel Balmaceda. In his later years, Varas returned to private legal practice in Valparaíso.
He died in Viña del Mar on 27 May 1911.