Osvaldo Vial

Osvaldo Vial Vial (29 October 1890 – 14 September 1978) was a Chilean politician who served as a minister of state and ambassador under several administrations.

Biography

Vial was the son of Osvaldo Vial Lastra and Trinidad Vial Ugarte. He married Sara Grez Irarrázaval, with whom he had four children. He studied at St. Ignatius College, Santiago and later attended the Faculty of Law of the University of Chile.

He was admitted to the bar in 1913 and subsequently worked as legal counsel for the State Railway Company. He also served as a councillor of the company's Retirement and Pension Fund and as the company's delegated representative to railway cooperatives.

Political career

Vial was appointed Minister of Justice, serving from 1934 to 1935 during the administration of Arturo Alessandri. He later served as Minister of Lands and Colonization from 1943 to 1944 under President Juan Antonio Ríos.

He served as Chilean ambassador to Bolivia from 1945 to 1947, during which time he helped restore strained diplomatic relations between the two countries. Together with the chargé d'affaires of the Holy See, he recovered the body of Bolivian president Gualberto Villarroel after Villarroel was killed and hanged in a public square. Vial subsequently served as Chilean ambassador to Brazil from 1947 to 1952.

He was also a councillor of the Chilean Bar Association, an honorary member of the Institute of Lawyers of Rio de Janeiro, and a member of the Club de la Unión and the Club Hípico de Santiago.