Ramón Allende Padín
Encyclopedia
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
an physician
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...
and political figure. The author of several important scientific publications, he also headed the Chilean Army's medical services during the War of the Pacific
War of the Pacific
The War of the Pacific took place in western South America from 1879 through 1883. Chile fought against Bolivia and Peru. Despite cooperation among the three nations in the war against Spain, disputes soon arose over the mineral-rich Peruvian provinces of Tarapaca, Tacna, and Arica, and the...
. Allende was of Basque
Basque people
The Basques as an ethnic group, primarily inhabit an area traditionally known as the Basque Country , a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.The Basques are known in the...
descent.
Biography
The son of José Gregorio Allende Garcés and Salomé Padín Ruiz, Allende was born in ValparaísoValparaíso
Valparaíso is a city and commune of Chile, center of its third largest conurbation and one of the country's most important seaports and an increasing cultural center in the Southwest Pacific hemisphere. The city is the capital of the Valparaíso Province and the Valparaíso Region...
. He studied at the Liceo de Valparaíso and the Instituto Nacional
Instituto Nacional
Instituto Nacional , founded on August 10, 1813 by the Chilean patriot José Miguel Carrera , officially Liceo Ex A-0 - Instituto Nacional General José Miguel Carrera, is Chile's oldest and most prestigious school...
before graduating, on 20 June 1865, from the Universidad de Chile as a physician specializing in obstetrics and surgery. He was an assistant professor of the School of Medicine, becoming a full professor in November 1865.
In 1870 he became the Chief Doctor of Valparaíso's emergency public hospital, the Hospital de Sanidad. He also worked with Professor Wenceslao Díaz and at the San Borja and San Vicente de Paul hospitals. In 1875 President Federico Errázuriz Zañartu
Federico Errázuriz Zañartu
Federico Marcos del Rosario Errázuriz Zañartu was a Chilean political figure. He served as the president of Chile between 1871 and 1876. He was born in Santiago in 1825 and died there in 1877. Errázuriz was of Basque descent....
appointed him to the Public Welfare Committee, charged with a reforming brief. Allende joined the Radical Party and was in 1876 elected as deputy for Santiago. He was reelected in 1879, this time for Copiapó and Caldera. He also served from 8 December 1879 to 1 November 1880 as chairman of the Council on Public Hygiene.
On 28 September 1880, during the War of the Pacific
War of the Pacific
The War of the Pacific took place in western South America from 1879 through 1883. Chile fought against Bolivia and Peru. Despite cooperation among the three nations in the war against Spain, disputes soon arose over the mineral-rich Peruvian provinces of Tarapaca, Tacna, and Arica, and the...
(1879–1884), Dr Allende was appointed Superintendent of the Army Medical Services. During this time he attended the troops as chief medical officer in charge of the Ambulance Service (an "ambulance" at the time was a mobile hospital of about 20 beds, equipped for the performance of emergency field surgery). As such he is considered to be the founder of the Chilean Army Medical Corps
Chilean Army
The Chilean Army is the land arm of the Military of Chile. This 45,000-person army is organized into seven divisions, a special operations brigade and an air brigade....
.
Allende headed the "Justice and Liberty" Masonic Lodge
Masonic Lodge
This article is about the Masonic term for a membership group. For buildings named Masonic Lodge, see Masonic Lodge A Masonic Lodge, often termed a Private Lodge or Constituent Lodge, is the basic organisation of Freemasonry...
and was a notorious enemy of the Catholic Church, which excommunicated
Excommunication
Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive, suspend or limit membership in a religious community. The word means putting [someone] out of communion. In some religions, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group...
him. He was also editor of the newspapers Guía para el Pueblo ("The People's guide") and El Deber ('"Duty'"). He was nominated as a member of the Public Instruction Committee and in this role he founded several schools, among them the Blas Cuevas School in Valparaíso, the first masonically controlled school. He was also a director of the Corps of Firemen.
Allende was elected to the Senate
Senate of Chile
The Senate of the Republic of Chile is the upper house of Chile's bicameral National Congress, as established in the current Constitution of Chile.-Composition:...
in 1882, and in 1884 he became Masonic Grand Master
Grand Master (Masonic)
In Freemasonry a Grand Master is the leader of the lodges within his Masonic jurisdiction. He presides over a Grand Lodge, and has certain rights in the constituent lodges that form his jurisdiction....
. He was, though, to die just a few months later, aged 39, from complications arising from his diabetic condition. Allende's funeral – at which the public eulogy was delivered by the radical leader Enrique Mac-Iver and two future presidents of Chile, José Manuel Balmaceda
José Manuel Balmaceda
José Manuel Emiliano Balmaceda Fernández was the 11th President of Chile from September 18, 1886 to August 29, 1891. Balmaceda was part of the Castilian-Basque aristocracy in Chile...
and Ramón Barros Luco
Ramón Barros Luco
Ramón Barros Luco was President of Chile between 1910 and 1915.Barros Luco was born in 1835 in Santiago, Barros Luco was son of Ramón Luis Barros Fernández and Dolores Luco Fernández de Leiva. He graduated from Law School in 1858...
, carried the coffin – turned into a gigantic political meeting.
Personal life
On 24 April 1869 Allende married Eugenia Castro del Fierro, with whom he had three sons: Ramón, Tomás and Salvador. From his third and youngest son he was the grandfather of PresidentPresident of Chile
The President of the Republic of Chile is both the head of state and the head of government of the Republic of Chile. The President is responsible of the government and state administration...
Salvador Allende
Salvador Allende
Salvador Allende Gossens was a Chilean physician and politician who is generally considered the first democratically elected Marxist to become president of a country in Latin America....
.