Ventura Blanco Viel
Ventura Blanco Viel (2 May 1846 – 21 March 1930) was a Chilean lawyer, politician and diplomat who served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile, as a senator for Santiago, and as a minister of state.
A member of the Conservative Party, Blanco Viel also served as president of the party from 1913 to 1917. In addition to his political career, he worked as a lawyer, academic, journalist and diplomat.
Outside politics, Blanco Viel was involved in banking and commercial enterprises. He administered the Banco Garantizador de Valores for ten years, became a director of the insurance company La Estrella de Chile in 1902, and served as president of the Banco Nacional in 1923.
He was also a member of the Club de la Unión, the Sociedad de Fomento Fabril and the Sociedad Nacional de Agricultura. He owned the La Leonera estate in Graneros, where he died on 21 March 1930.
Early life
Blanco Viel was born in Santiago on 2 May 1846 to Manuel Blanco Cuartín and Elisa Viel Toro. He studied at the Seminario Conciliar de Santiago and later attended the Faculty of Law of the University of Chile. He qualified as a lawyer on 3 July 1873.
He married Carmela Correa Blanco, with whom he had five daughters.
Blanco Viel taught history at the Chilean Military School and later taught administrative and criminal law at the law faculty of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. He was also a member of the Council of Public Instruction.
He contributed to several newspapers, including La República, El Independiente and La Estrella de Chile, and worked as an editor for La Aurora and El Mercurio.
Political career
A member of the Conservative Party, Blanco Viel held several leadership positions within the organization. He became vice president of its executive board in May 1906 and served as president of the party from 1913 to 1917. He was subsequently named honorary president.
Blanco Viel entered the Chamber of Deputies as a substitute deputy for Rancagua for the 1873–1876 term. He served as provisional secretary of the Chamber from 29 May to 3 June 1873, when he became a full member.
He was elected deputy for Santiago for the 1876–1879 term and served on the permanent committee for education and charitable institutions. He was reelected for the following parliamentary term, serving until 1882.
Blanco Viel returned to the Chamber as deputy for Santiago for the 1886–1888 term, taking his seat on 26 July 1886. He served on the elections and petitions committee and was reelected for the 1888–1891 term, during which he again participated in the committee for education and charitable institutions.
In 1891, he was elected deputy for Valparaíso and Casablanca. He served as provisional president of the Chamber from 2 to 10 November 1891 and subsequently as first vice president until 11 January 1892. He also participated in the committee for education and charitable institutions and in the Conservative Commission during the 1892–1893 parliamentary recess.
Blanco Viel later entered the Senate as a replacement senator for Santiago for the 1894–1900 term, taking the oath of office on 4 August 1896. He participated in committees dealing with government and foreign affairs and was reelected for the 1900–1906 term.
During his second senatorial term, Blanco Viel served as vice president of the Senate from 5 June 1900 to 6 March 1901. He participated in the permanent committees for foreign affairs, budgets, constitution, legislation and justice, and public instruction.
Ministerial and diplomatic career
Blanco Viel began his diplomatic career in 1867, when he served as secretary of the Chilean legation in Bolivia.
President Jorge Montt appointed him Minister of War and Navy on 31 December 1891. He remained in office until 14 March 1892. He later served under Montt as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Worship and Colonization from 22 April 1893 until 26 April 1894.
Under President Federico Errázuriz Echaurren, Blanco Viel returned to the Ministry of War and Navy, serving from 5 May to 19 December 1898. He was subsequently appointed Minister of the Interior, holding that position from 13 March to 8 April 1899. Later that month, he became acting Minister of Industry and Public Works, serving from 29 April until 25 May 1899.
In 1916, Blanco Viel served as Chile's extraordinary ambassador to Argentina. He was also a member of an arbitration committee at The Hague.