Santiago Toro
Santiago Toro Lorca (30 November 1866 – ?) was a Chilean politician, lawyer and journalist who served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile.
A member of the Radical Party, he first represented Copiapó, Chañaral, Vallenar and Freirina from 1897 to 1900. During this term, he served as a substitute member of the Permanent Commission of War and Navy and as a member of the Permanent Commission of Education and Charity. He later represented Tarapacá and Pisagua from 1912 to 1915, serving on the Permanent Commission of Social Legislation.
Toro was born in Copiapó on 30 November 1866, the son of Santiago Toro Besoaín, an industrialist and miner in Atacama, and Dolores Lorca Blanco. He studied at the Liceo de Copiapó and later obtained a bachelor's degree from the Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities in Santiago. He qualified as a lawyer at the end of 1897.
He participated in the political movement of 1890 as secretary of the Club de la Juventud Independiente and as a contributor to the opposition newspaper La Barra. During the Chilean Civil War of 1891, he joined the constitutionalist forces and served in the Tarapacá Battalion, taking part in the Battle of Concón, where he was seriously wounded. The government of President Jorge Montt subsequently granted him the rank of army captain.
In June 1892, Toro was appointed secretary of the Intendancy of Atacama and later became acting intendant. In 1894 he was appointed Intendant of Atacama, a position he held until September 1896.
In 1904, he settled in Iquique, where he practiced law. During his years in the city, he reorganized and unified the local Radical Party and served as president of its assembly until 1912. His parliamentary work during his second term focused especially on social legislation and the protection of workers, older people, women and children.
After leaving political life, he devoted himself to legal practice and journalism.