List of Chileans
This is a list of Chileans who are famous or notable.
Coat of Arms
Bernardo O'Higgins, founder of modern Chile
Economists
- Hernán Büchi – Columbia University trained economist. Minister of Economy during Pinochet government. The father of the country's Economic Miracle
- Ricardo J. Caballero – MIT professor, Department of Economics
- Sebastián Edwards – UCLA professor, former World Bank officer (1993–1996), prolific author and media personality
- Alejandro Foxley – Chile's first Finance Minister after the return of democracy in 1990 and an engineer of the country's economic miracle during democracy; former Foreign Affairs minister, and former Chilean Senator for East Santiago.
- Manfred Max Neef – Right Livelihood Award winner, presidential candidate, member of the Club of Rome, former president of the Universidad Austral
- José Piñera – implemented the privatization of the Chilean pension system under Pinochet
- Andrés Velasco – Sumitomo Professor of International Finance and Development in the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University; Finance Minister during Bachelet's administration
- Nicolás Eyzaguirre – former Finance Minister
Military
Jose Miguel Carrera
- José Miguel Carrera – First Commander-in-Chief of the Chilean Army and Independence leader of the Patria Vieja.
- Luis Carrera – Chilean Military Officer in the War of Independence
- Caupolicán – leader of the Mapuche who fiercely resisted the Spanish conquest of Chile
- Manuel Contreras – head of Augusto Pinochet's National Intelligence Directorate (DINA)
- Manuel Rodríguez – Independentist leader and guerrilla leader during the Reconquista.
- Lautaro – Mapuche indigenous military leader during the Spanish conquest of Chile.
- Bernardo O'Higgins – Founder of modern Chile
- Pedro de Valdivia – Royal Governor of Chile and Lieutenant under Francisco Pizarro
- Carlos Condell – captain of the Covadonga ship at the Iquique Naval Combat.
- Ignacio Carrera Pinto – Captain in charge of the Chilean patrol who died in Battle of La Concepción.
- Arturo Prat – captain of the Esmeralda ship at the Iquique Naval Combat; regarded as national hero.
- Luis Pardo - also known as Piloto Pardo, Chilean Navy Captain who rescued the survivors of the Shackleton expedition.
- Juan MacKenna – Irish born organizer of O'Higgins's Army.
- Patricio Lynch – Governor of Lima during the Chilean occupation of Lima, Perú, during the War of the Pacific.
- Manuel Baquedano – General of the Chilean Forces during the War of the Pacific.
- Eleuterio Ramírez – officer, hero of the War of the Pacific.
- José Ignacio Zenteno – Lieutenant Colonel of the Army of the Andes, Minister of War and Marine in the O'Higgins government
- Philip Bazaar – Navy Medal of Honour
Musicians
- Américo – Cumbia chilena singer
- Tom Araya – singer/bassist for thrash metal band Slayer.
- Claudio Arrau – classical piano player.
- Germán Casas – 1960s singer.
- Beto Cuevas – lead singer from rock group La Ley
- Luis 'Lucho' Gatica – bolero singer.
- Eduardo Gatti – one of the leading composers of modern Chilean music.
- Jorge González – Controversial lead singer and songwriter of historic Chilean rock band Los Prisioneros
- Alberto Guerrero – Chilean–Canadian composer, pianist, and teacher
- Rodrigo González – Bassist and Singer of the German band die Ärzte.
- Myriam Hernández – popular music singer.
- Inti-Illimani – Pioneers of the nueva canción chilena movement and known communists and "pro-democracy" activists in exile during Pinochet dictatorship.
- Víctor Jara – internationally known Chilean folk singer and theatrical director, political activist and a communist.
- DJ Méndez – Urban music producer
- Leo Rey – Cumbia chilena singer
- Dave McGraw - drummer for death metal band Cattle Decapitation.
- Chañaral Ortega-Miranda – contemporary composer
- Ángel Parra – folk musician (nueva canción); son of Violeta Parra.
- Isabel Parra – folk musician; daughter of Violeta Parra.
- Javiera Parra – lead singer from group Javiera y los Imposibles.
- Violeta Parra – internationally known Chilean folk singer.
- Antonio Prieto (actor) - singer and actor known in English by "The Bride" or "The Wedding" song.
- Quilapayún – nueva canción ensemble, supporters of Popular Unity (UP) coalition during presidency of Salvador Allende.
- Alejandro Silva – heavy metal guitar player.
- Clara Solovera – song writer. Born in Santiago 15 May 1909 – Died in Santiago on 27 January 1992.
- Esther Soré – 1940s singer. Born in Santiago on 27 May 1915 – Died in Santiago on 6 September 1996
- Francisca Valenzuela - singer and songwriter
- Verónica Villarroel – soprano.
- Ramón Vinay – tenor
- Ricardo Villalobos – minimal techno artist
- La Noche – Cumbia chilena band
- Los Abandoned – Alternative rock band
Artists
Main article: List of Chilean artists
- Claudio Bravo – World famous hyper-realism painter (1936–2011)
- Miguel Venegas – painter. Called "El Maestro" (the Master)
- Carlos Catasse – painter
- Marta Colvin – sculptor
- Alfredo Jaar – installation artist, film maker and architect
- Olga Lehmann – painter
- Roberto Matta – painter, sculptor
- Camilo Mori – painter
- Carlos Sotomayor – Cubist painter
Politicians
Anibal Pinto
- Juana Rosa Aguirre – former first lady, wife of Pedro Aguirre Cerda
- Arturo Alessandri – Served twice as president of Chile
- Jorge Alessandri – 27th President of Chile. President of Council of State under Pinochet Regime.
- Salvador Allende – former senator and president of Chile; ousted in a military coup
- Clodomiro Almeyda – socialist politician
- Soledad Alvear – former Justice minister and Foreign minister; current PDC senator
- Michelle Bachelet – first woman president of Chile
- Carlos Dávila – former Secretary General of the Organization of American States
- Florencio Durán – former president of the senate
- Fernando Flores – businessman and former senator
- Gabriel González Videla - 25th President of Chile (1946-1952).
- Jaime Guzmán – right wing politician during the Pinochet regime, murdered by Manuel Rodríguez Patriotic Front on April 1, 1991; Former UDI Senator
- Tomás Hirsch – former president of the Humanist Party of Chile and 2005 candidate for president
- Carlos Keller - former Leader of the National Socialist Movement of Chile, responsible for the organization of the Seguro Obrero Massacre
- José Miguel Insulza – former Interior minister; current Secretary General of the Organization of American States
- Joaquín Lavín – Independent Democratic Union candidate for presidency in 2005 election; former mayor of Las Condes and Santiago
- Orlando Letelier – Foreign Minister during Salvador Allende's government murdered during the Pinochet regime in Washington, D.C.
- Gladys Marín – communist leader, feminist activist, lived in exile, opposed conservatism and liberal economy, admirer of Lenin and Marx
- Anibal Pinto - 9th President of Chile (1876-1881).
- Diego Portales – Minister, major designer of the Chilean State during the first half of 19th century
- Sebastián Piñera – Chilean billionaire, businessman and politician; former President of Chile
- Augusto Pinochet – Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Chile, President of the Government Junta of Chile, and Dictator from 1973 until 1990.
- Laura Rodríguez – first Humanist Party deputy in the world
- Chris Watson – Third Prime Minister of Australia
- Adolfo Zaldívar – PRI senator, former leader of the PDC
- Andrés Zaldívar – former PDC senator
Religious figures
- Saint Teresa de los Andes – first Chilean saint
- Blessed Laura Vicuña
- José María Caro Rodríguez – first Chilean cardinal
- Raúl Silva Henríquez – second Chilean cardinal born in Talca; a human rights advocate.
- Alberto Hurtado - saint
- Juan Francisco Fresno – third Chilean cardinal
- Francisco Javier Errázuriz – fourth Chilean cardinal
- Jorge Medina – fifth Chilean cardinal; a conservative figure.
- Fr. Juan Ignacio Molina – Chilean priest, naturalist, historian, botanist, ornithologist, geographer
- José María Vélaz – Chilean priest
- Carlos Camus – Chilean bishop
- Juan Subercaseaux Errázuriz – Chilean Roman Catholic Archbishop
Sports
- Marlene Ahrens – javelin thrower; Olympic silver medalist
- Omar Aguilar – long-distance runner
- David Arellano – football player, Colo-Colo's stadium is named after him.
- Luis Ayala – tennis player; twice French Open finalist
- Fernando Alvarez – jockey
- Nick Carle – football player, Sydney FC
- Carlos Caszely – football player.
- Patricio Cornejo – tennis player, 1976 Davis Cup Finalist
- Carlo de Gavardo – KTM rally motorcyclist.
- Elías Figueroa – football player; three times elected as Best Football Player of America
- Jaime Fillol – tennis player, 1976 Davis Cup finalist
- Arturo Godoy – boxer, fought Joe Louis twice for the World Heavyweight title
- Fernando González – tennis player; only Chilean to win Gold, Silver and Bronze medals at the Summer Olympics.
- Alberto Larraguibel – horserider, record for Puissance (high-jump) on Horseback.
- Sergio Sapo Livingstone – Chilean football goalkeeper
- Anita Lizana – tennis player; 1937 US Open champion. First Latin American, and first Hispanic person, to be ranked World Number 1 in tennis.
- Nicolás Massú – tennis player; highest world ranking # 9, Olympic 2-time champion (singles & doubles)
- Carlos Moreno – track and field sprinter
- Iván Morovic – chess International Grandmaster
- Érika Olivera – marathon runner; gold medal winner in women's marathon at the 1999 Pan American Games
- Manuel Pellegrini- former footballer player for Universidad de Chile, ex manager of Real Madrid.
- Alejandra Ramos – middle-distance runner
- Monica Regonesi – long-distance runner
- Fernando Riera - Chile's most successful soccer coach, led the national team to a third place finish in the 1962 World Cup.
- Marcelo Ríos – first Latin American man to become world number-one tennis player.
- Jose Romero – AFL player, Western Bulldogs
- Sebastián Rozental – football player.
- Eduardo Robledo – football player, Newcastle United F.C.
- Jorge Robledo – football player, Newcastle United F.C.
- Marcelo Salas – football player. Holds the record for most goals playing for the national team. Won titles with every team where he played.
- Eliseo Salazar – race car driver. Competed in Formula One intermittently from 1980–1982, moved to Champ Car and the Indy Racing League
- Alexis Sánchez – football player, FC Arsenal
- Leonel Sánchez – football player, 1962 World Cup top scorer
- José Santos – jockey, winner of US Triple Crown
- Alejandro Silva – long-distance runner
- Pablo Squella – middle-distance runner
- José Sulantay - Chile's second most successful soccer coach, led the under 20 national team to a third place finish at the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada.
- Emilio Ulloa – long-distance runner
- Dion Valle – football player, Marconi Stallions FC
- Rodrigo Vargas – football player, Melbourne Victory FC
- Arturo Vidal - football player, Juventus
- Gert Weil – shot putter
- Iván Zamorano – football player.
Scientists and engineers
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- Ricardo Baeza-Yates – Computer scientist
- Ricardo Baeza Rodríguez - Mathematician
- Claudio Bunster – Physicist
- Erik Bongcam-Rudloff – Bioinformatician
- Marcela Contreras – Immunologist
- F. J. Duarte – Laser physicist
- Matias Duarte – Software inventor
- Julio M. Fernandez – Biologist, academic
- Eric Goles – Mathematician
- Mario Hamuy – cosmologist and astronomer
- Adriana Hoffmann – Botanist, Environment Minister (2000–2001)
- Humberto Maturana – Biologist, co-author of the theory of Autopoiesis
- Juan Ignacio Molina – 18th and 19th century natural scientist
- Ernestina Pérez Barahona, physician
- María Teresa Ruiz – Astronomer
- Francisco Varela – Biologist, co-author of the theory of Autopoiesis
- Pablo DT Valenzuela – Biotechnologist, cofounder of Chiron Corporation and Fundacion Ciencias Para la Vida
Film and television personalities
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- Jason Acuña - actor
- Cecilia Amenábar - actress
- Cecilia Bolocco – Former Miss Universe, TV host
- Santiago Cabrera - actor
- Felipe Camiroaga - TV presenter
- Martín Cárcamo - TV presenter
- Charissa Chamorro - actress
- Cristián de la Fuente - actor
- Karen Doggenweiler - TV presenter
- Alberto Fuguet - film director
- Pablo Francisco - comedian
- Jorge Garcia - actor
- Luis Gatica - actor
- Lisa Guerrero - media journalist, TV presenter, actress, model
- Patricio Guzmán - film director
- Cote de Pablo – actress (Ziva David in the TV series NCIS)
- Pedro Pascal - actor, Game of Thrones, The Mentalist, Graceland
- Mario Kreutzberger (Don Francisco) – Host of television show Sábado Gigante
- Alejandro Jodorowsky - filmmaker
- Claudio Miranda - cinematographer
- Cristina Montt - actress
- Carlos Pinto - TV Presenter
- Nicole Polizzi – Member of the Jersey Shore
- Antonio Prieto (actor) - actor and singer ("La Novia" known in Great Britain and the US as "The Wedding")
- Francisco Puelles - actor and television personality
- Julián Ríos - actor
- Raúl Ruiz - film director
- Horatio Sanz - actor and comedian
- Fernando Solis - Radio and TV Host
- Catalina Vallejos - actress and model
- Leonor Varela - actress and model
- Alexander Witt - filmmaker
- Andrés Wood - film director
Writers
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- Angel Cruchaga Santa Maria (1893–1964) was a Chilean writer. He won the Chilean National Prize for Literature in 1948.
- Francisco Núñez de Pineda y Bascuñán writer of Cautiverio feliz y razón individual de las guerras dilatadas del Reino de Chile in 1673
- Fernando Alegría – writer
- Isabel Allende – novelist (The House of Spirits)
- Roberto Ampuero – novelist (Cayetano Brulé series)
- Roberto Bolaño – novelist (The Savage Detectives)
- Francisco Coloane – (Tierra del fuego)
- Eugenio Cruz Vargas (1923-2014) was a Chilean poet and painter. Was of Basque descent.
- Juan Guzman Cruchaga (1895–1979) was a Chilean poet and diplomat. He won the Chilean National Prize for Literature in 1962. Was of Basque descent.
- José Donoso – (Coronation)
- Ariel Dorfman – novelist, playwright (Death and the Maiden), academic, essayist, journalist and human rights activist
- Jorge Edwards – 1999 Cervantes Prize winner
- Alberto Fuguet – novelist, short story writer Mala Onda, Las películas de mi vida, and filmmaker Se Arrienda
- Alberto Blest Gana – novelist (Martín Rivas)
- Cristián Huneeus – writer
- Enrique Lafourcade – novelist
- Hernán Rivera Letelier – novelist (Santa María de las Flores Negras, La Reina Isabel Cantaba Rancheras), poet and writer of short stories.
- Carmen Marai – novelist El Alba de la Mandrágora ("The Dawn of the Mandrake"), poet and writer of short stories.
- Jorge Salgado-Reyes - publisher, novelist and author of Altered States: a cyberpunk sci-fi anthology, Spooky Halloween Drabbles 2014, British Process Servers Guide.
- Antonio Skármeta – author of Ardiente Paciencia ("Burning Patience") which inspired the movie Il Postino (The Postman) about poet Pablo Neruda.
- Luis Sepúlveda – novelist
- Mercedes Valdivieso – writer
- Sergio Vodanović – playwright
- Vicente Huidobro – father of the "Creationism" movement in Paris
- Enrique Lihn- poet, playwright, and novelist
- Gabriela Mistral – winner of the Nobel prize for literature
- Pablo Neruda – winner of the Nobel prize for literature
- Nicanor Parra – self-proclaimed anti-poet
- Gonzalo Rojas – 2004 Cervantes Prize winner
- Pablo de Rokha- Chilean National Prize for Literature in 1965
- Elvira Santa Cruz Ossa, dramatist and novelist
- Óscar Hahn – Chilean writer and poet
Others
- Vanessa Ceruti - Miss Universe Chile 2011
- Carlos Kaiser – former National Director of the National Fund for Disabilities
- Nataly Chilet - Miss World Chile 2008
- Claudio Grossman – chairman of the Human Rights Interamerican Court
- Hil Hernández - Miss Earth 2006
- Themo Lobos – comic artist
- Rene Ríos Boettiger (Pepo) – comic artist (Condorito)
- Juan Somavia – Director-General of the International Labour Organization
- Arturo Valenzuela – former Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs
- Andrónico Luksic – chairman of Quiñenco Holdings, which owns Banco de Chile, Antofagasta Minerals, one of the largest Chilean financial groups.
- La Quintrala - Catalina de los Ríos y Lisperguer, aristocratic and sadistic landowner and witch during the Colonial Period.
- Camila Vallejo - member of the Chilean Communist Youth, leads 2011 student protests in Chile.
- Bernardita Zúñiga - Miss World Chile 2007
- Guillermo Jullian de la Fuente
- Joaquín Toesca – designer of the presidential house "La Moneda", in Santiago
- Mathias Klotz – Winner of the Borromini Prize of Architecture in 2001 for under-40 architects.
See also
- Chilean American
- Chilean Australian
- Chilean British
- List of people by nationality
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