José Victorino Lastarria

José Victorino Lastarria (Spanish pronunciation: [xoˈse βiɣtoˈɾino lasˈtarja]; 23 March 1817 – 14 June 1888) was a Chilean writer, legislative deputy, senator, diplomat, and finance minister. He was a liberal associated with the opposition to the consecutive governments of Joaquín Prieto (1831–1841), Manuel Bulnes (1841–1851), and Manuel Montt (1851–1861).

Early life

José Victorino Lastarria was the son of Francisco Lastarria y Cortés and Carmen Santander Bozo.

He studied in his hometown of Rancagua, and then moved to Santiago when he was granted a scholarship by the government of Francisco Antonio Pinto to the Liceo de Chile, a school then run by José Joaquín de Mora. While there, the Chilean Civil War of 1829–30 occurred, in which the Pipiolos (Liberals) were defeated by the Pelucones (Conservatives). Mora was expelled from the country, which motivated Lastarria to become a revolutionary against what he saw as a dictatorship being installed.

Lastarria married Julia Jesús Villarreal on 8 June 1839, with whom he had 12 children. One was engineer Victorino Aurelio Lastarria.

Studies

Lastarria was a disciple of Andrés Bello in 1834. After graduating from the National Institute, he studied for various careers, earning the titles of geographer and attorney from the University of San Felipe and the Institute of Law and Sacred Canons in 1839.

With a group of students from the National Institute, he formed the Literary Society of 1842, an entity for the dissemination of liberal ideas then prohibited by the government of Manuel Bulnes.