Francisco Cuevas Mackenna
Juan Francisco Cuevas Mackenna (Santiago, 22 May 1910 – Santiago, 25 May 1988) was a Chilean civil engineer, farmer, and politician who served as a minister of state during the second government of President Carlos Ibáñez del Campo.
Family and education
He was born in Santiago de Chile on 22 May 1910, the son of Luis Cuevas Bartholin and Julia Mackenna Subercaseaux. He completed his primary and secondary education at the Andrés Bello Institute. He subsequently attended the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (PUC), graduating as a civil engineer in 1933 with a thesis entitled Central hidroeléctrica.
He married twice. His first marriage was to Paulina Pinto Correa, with whom he had four daughters: Paulina, Francisca, Julia, and María Teresa. On 17 November 1971, he married Patricia de Lourdes Carvallo Espinoza, with whom he had two more children, Patricia Isabel and Juan Francisco.
Professional career
He began his professional career in the mining sector. He served as manager of the Compañía Minera Guayacán and the Asociación de Productores de Cáñamo.
He was also engaged in agriculture, managing the "El Cardo" estate in the Santiago commune of Pirque. He worked on the construction of a loading system for the Compañía Carbonífera e Industrial de Lota and on the Poyanco canal near San Alonso, which was intended for agricultural irrigation. He subsequently became the concessionaire of the Tuqui Hydroelectric Power Plant and served as manager of the mining company Compañía Minera Cerro Negro.
Political career
During the second presidency of Carlos Ibáñez del Campo, he was appointed Minister of Mining on 14 October 1953, serving until 19 January 1954. He was subsequently appointed vice president of Banco del Estado. A year later, on 6 January 1955, he returned to the government, this time as Minister of Finance, a position he held until 21 February of the same year.
Among his other activities, he was a member of the National Agricultural Society (SNA), the National Mining Society (Sonami)—of which he served as president in 1965—the Instituto de Ingenieros de Chile, the Automobile Club, and Stade Français.
He died in Santiago on 25 May 1988, aged 78.