Enrique Rocuant
Enrique Rocuant Figueroa (1867 – 1940) was a Chilean politician and lawyer who served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile.
A member of the Radical Party, Rocuant was first elected deputy for La Laja, Nacimiento and Mulchén for the 1900–1903 period, serving on the Permanent Commissions of Education and Charity and of Industry. He was reelected for the same constituency for the 1903–1906 term and continued as a member of the Permanent Commission of Industry. He subsequently represented Chillán and San Carlos from 1906 to 1909, serving on the Permanent Commission of Elections and as a substitute member of the Permanent Commissions of Legislation and Justice and of Finance. He was also a member of the Conservative Commission during the 1908–1909 recess. In 1912, he returned to the Chamber as deputy for Antofagasta, serving until 1915 on the Permanent Commissions of Public Assistance and Worship and of War and Navy.
Rocuant was born in Valparaíso in 1867, the son of José Toribio Rocuant Hidalgo and Isabel Figueroa Aros. He studied humanities at the Seminary of Valparaíso and completed them at the Instituto Nacional in Santiago. He later studied law at the University of Chile and qualified as a lawyer in 1888.
He became involved in politics during the presidential campaign of 1886, serving as secretary of the Radical faction in Valparaíso and supporting the candidacy of José Manuel Balmaceda. He later stood unsuccessfully as a Radical candidate for deputy for San Felipe, Los Andes and Putaendo in 1892, and for Quillota and Limache in 1895. Between 1894 and 1896, he served as secretary of the Radical Assembly of Valparaíso.
In 1896, Rocuant travelled to Europe for study and observation. During his stay, he contributed political and social correspondence to newspapers in Santiago and Valparaíso. In London in 1897, he published Breve reseña de la situación industrial y mercantil de Chile, and after returning to Chile in 1898 he compiled his European correspondence in the volume Viajes por Europa.
During his parliamentary career, he also published Los pactos de mayo in 1905, a pamphlet concerning the agreements between Chile and Argentina and the issue of naval equivalence. During the 1906–1909 period, he participated in the Radical faction known as the Joven Turquía, which opposed the party's acceptance of the doctrinal truce during the government of President Pedro Montt.
After leaving Congress, Rocuant returned to Valparaíso and practiced law. In 1923, he served as vice president of the Sociedad Matadero Modelo de Valparaíso. He died in 1940.