Máximo Valdés Fontecilla
Máximo Valdés Fontecilla (Santiago, 11 May 1879 – 5 May 1967) was a Chilean merchant, farmer, and politician, and a member of the Liberal Party (PL). He served as Minister of Agriculture during the second administration of President Arturo Alessandri.
Early life and family
Valdés was born in Santiago on 11 May 1879, the son of Máximo Valdés Carrera and Adela Fontecilla Sánchez. His mother was the daughter of Clara Sánchez Fontecilla and physician and politician Pedro Eleodoro Fontecilla Sotomayor, who served as a presidential elector, mayor, and intendant. He received his primary education at the Colegio San Ignacio and his secondary education at Colegio San Pedro Nolasco.
He married Blanca Vial Sánchez, daughter of Natalia Sánchez Fontecilla and geographer, farmer, businessman, and politician Leonidas Vial Guzmán, who served for several legislative terms as both deputy and senator, representing the National Party.
They had six children: Blanca, who married farmer and politician Fernando Ochagavía Hurtado, a member of the Conservative Party; Alicia, who married physician and politician José Miguel Balmaceda Ossa, a grandson of lawyer and politician José Manuel Balmaceda (president of Chile from 1886 to 1891), and a leader of the paramilitary organization Republican Militia, which was active during Arturo Alessandri's second administration; María Teresa, who married real-estate broker and politician Roberto Ossandón Guzmán, the son of María Teresa Guzmán Cruz and merchant and politician Carlos Ossandón Barros, who served as a municipal councillor and mayor of Zapallar, and who was a member successively of the Conservative Party, the National Party, and the Union of the Centrist Center (UCC); Inés; Máximo, an agronomist and politician who served as a municipal councillor of Pirque representing the Liberal Party and married Blanca Zegers Alcalde; and Isabel, who married engineer and politician Guillermo García-Huidobro Jaraquemada, a member of the National Party.
Business and agricultural career
Valdés did not pursue higher education, instead devoting himself primarily to agriculture and commerce, and becoming a business association leader in both sectors. In 1928, he acquired the "Santa Rita de Pirque" hacienda, although he was unable to take possession of it until 1930 because it was being leased by the Subercaseaux family.
He later served as president of the Confederation of Production and Commerce (CPC) for twelve years, from 1935 to 1947. At the same time, he was a director and twice president of the National Agricultural Society (SNA), serving as president from 1941 to 1943 and again from 1946 to 1953. He also served as vice-president of the Agricultural Export Board.
Political career
Valdés was a member of the Liberal Party (PL), under whose banner he was elected mayor of the commune of Chimbarongo in the 1918 municipal elections. During his tenure as mayor, he promoted the construction of the Chimbarongo Hospital. He left office several months after taking up the post in order to stand for election to the Chamber of Deputies as a representative of the San Fernando Department, and was elected for the 1918–1921 legislative term.
After a period out of Congress, he was again elected deputy for the same area in the 1924 parliamentary election, for the 1924–1927 term. He was unable to complete his term, however, because the National Congress was dissolved on 11 September 1924 following a coup d'état led by General Luis Altamirano Talavera.
During the second administration of liberal President Arturo Alessandri, Valdés was appointed Minister of Agriculture on 29 August 1935. He held the position until 13 August 1936. He returned to the same post on 25 May 1937 and remained in office until 24 December 1938, when Alessandri's administration ended. During his tenure at the ministry, he organized the Experimental Agronomic Service.
Three years later, in the 1941 parliamentary election, Valdés stood as a candidate for the Senate representing the province of Santiago. He received 12,115 votes out of the 44,276 cast for the Liberal–Conservative–APL–Democratic list, which elected two of the five senators for the 1941–1949 term. His total was the second-highest among the candidates on the list, but due to his position within it, he was not elected. He subsequently returned to public service when President Pedro Aguirre Cerda appointed him a director of the Central Bank of Chile.
Among his other activities, Valdés was a member of the Club de la Unión and the Club Hípico de Santiago, and served as president of the "Centenario" Workers' Housing Society. He also established an experimental genetics station and organized an agricultural congress, the latter in 1939.
Valdés died in his native Santiago on 5 May 1967, aged 87. His funeral was held the following day at the Santiago General Cemetery, following a Mass at the Church of San Ignacio in Santiago.