José María Berganza
José María Berganza Lorca (1808 – 29 October 1876) was a Chilean public official and politician who served as Minister of Finance under President Manuel Montt from 1854 to 1856. He was also a member of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile, representing Osorno, Valdivia and Chillán, and later served on the Council of State.
Education
Berganza was born in Valdivia and was baptized there on 1 May 1808. He was the son of Spanish military officer José de Berganza, a native of Bilbao and a royalist during the Chilean War of Independence, and Juana María Fernández de Lorca, a native of Valdivia. His father died in San Luis, Argentina, in 1819.
At the age of six, Berganza entered military service as a graded ensign in the garrison of his native city. He later became a professor at the Instituto Nacional while Manuel Montt was its rector.
On 21 April 1839, Berganza married Mercedes Guzmán at the Santa Ana parish in Santiago. The couple had no children.
Political career
Berganza began his career in public administration in 1828 as an official of the Santiago Treasury. He subsequently rose through the fiscal administration and eventually became Contador Mayor. On 20 October 1852, he was appointed inspector of fiscal offices.
His parliamentary career began when he was elected deputy for Osorno for the 1846–1849 legislative term. He served on the Commission on Elections and the Commission for the Qualification of Petitions.
Berganza returned to the Chamber of Deputies of Chile as deputy for Valdivia for the 1852–1855 term and was reelected for the same constituency for 1855–1858. During these terms, he served on the Permanent Commission on Finance and Industry.
Under President Manuel Montt, Berganza was appointed Minister of Finance on 7 January 1854, succeeding Guillermo Waddington. The parliamentary biography records his ministerial service from 7 January 1854 to 19 July 1855 and again from 3 September 1855 to 18 September 1856. During his time in the cabinet, his seat in the Chamber was occupied by substitute deputy Diego Barros Arana.
As finance minister, Berganza prepared the ministry's annual reports presented to the National Congress in 1855 and 1856. He left the ministry at the beginning of Montt's second presidential term on 18 September 1856 and was succeeded by José Francisco Gana.
Berganza was again elected to the Chamber of Deputies for the 1861–1864 legislative term, representing Chillán and serving on the Permanent Commission on Finance and Industry.
President José Joaquín Pérez appointed him to the Council of State, on which he served from 1861 until his retirement from public service in 1864.
Outside government, Berganza invested in the company established to construct the railway between Santiago and Valparaíso and accumulated substantial property holdings, including the Lo Guzmán estate.
Berganza died in Santiago on 29 October 1876.