Francisco Mardones Otaíza
Francisco Mardones Otaíza (29 May 1877 – 23 July 1950) was a Chilean engineer, academic and politician.
He served as a minister of state under several governments. He was also dean of the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences of the University of Chile and served as acting rector of the university.
Family and education
Mardones was born in Santiago on 29 May 1877, the son of Francisco Mardones and Carmen Otaíza. He studied at the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, University of Chile (FCFM), graduating as a civil and mining engineer in 1901.
He married Berta Restat Cortés, with whom he had sixteen children: Fernando, Héctor, Jorge, Ignacio, Lucía, Carlos, María Elena, Enrique, María Teresa, Francisco, Manuel, Ana María, Adriana, Berta, Julio and Gonzalo.
Professional career
At the University of Chile, Mardones taught geometry (1900–1919), industrial physics (1913–1919), and roads and railways (1919–1928) at the FCFM. He also taught statistics at the Instituto Superior de Comercio from 1901 to 1903.
He served as secretary (1910–1920) and dean (1920–1927) of the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences of the University of Chile. In 1926, he served as acting rector of the University of Chile. On 11 November 1949, he was inducted as a full member of the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences.
Mardones worked as an engineer for the General Directorate of Public Works from 1901 to 1904 and for the Empresa de los Ferrocarriles del Estado, where he served in the Directorate of Tracks and Works from 1904 to 1914. He became director of the department in 1911 and subsequently served as chief inspector from 1914 to 1927. He later served as a director of the Compañía Carbonífera de Lebu from 1924 to 1925 and of the Compañía de Telégrafos Comerciales from 1932.
Political career
A member of the Democratic Party, Mardones served as Minister of Public Works from 1923 to 1924 and as Minister of the Interior from August to October 1925, during the first administration of Liberal president Arturo Alessandri.
He later served as Minister of Finance in the provisional government of General Bartolomé Blanche from September to October 1932.