Matte family

The Matte family is a rich, powerful and influential Chilean family of Catalan origin. According to Forbes magazine, their wealth amounts to US$2.7 billion (2007).

Family origins

The Matte family's rise to power began in the 19th century when Francisco Javier Matte and his wife opened a textile store in downtown Santiago. In 1855 their son Domingo (who fathered 16 children) opened a bank in Valparaíso with two of his sons, Augusto and Eduardo.

Prominent members

• Claudio Matte: created the Matte syllabary and was rector of the University of Chile
• Augusto Matte: Lawyer, diplomat, deputy and senator; also Finance Minister and Justice Minister
• Luis Matte Larraín
• Eugenio Matte Hurtado
• Arturo Matte Alessandri
• Luis Matte Valdés: minister under Salvador Allende
• Eliodoro Matte Ossa: owner of the Compañía Manufacturera de Papeles y Cartones paper mill (La Papelera) who famously protested president Allende's attempt to nationalize it
• María Patricia Matte Larraín: president of the Primary Instruction Society, owner of several schools for poor children in Santiago
• Eliodoro Matte Larraín: president of conservative and influential think-tank Public Studies Center (Centro de Estudio Públicos, CEP)
• Bernardo Matte Larraín
• Magdalena Matte Lecaros: Minister of Housing & Urbanism; wife of senator Hernán Larraín
• María Olga Matte Lira: actress, wife of economist and politician Guillermo Larraín
• Ricardo Matte Pérez: Lawyer, senator and minister
• Pablo Larraín Matte: Filmmaker, director of No

Sources

• "La sostenedora de la elite" La Nación
• “La sagrada familia”: Un recorrido por las dinastías chilenas Revista Cosas