Enrique Bravo Ortiz
Enrique Bravo Ortíz was a Chilean military officer and politician. He reached the rank of brigadier general in the Chilean Army and later served as senator, President of the Senate, and Minister of War.
Early life and military career
Bravo Ortíz was born in San Carlos on 27 January 1878, the son of José Bravo and Enriqueta Ortiz. He completed his secondary education at the Liceo de Chillán and later entered the Bernardo O'Higgins Military School, graduating in 1895.He attended the Army War Academy between 1903 and 1906 and served with the Italian Army between 1907 and 1910. He was military attaché in Italy from 1916 to 1919 and in Spain from 1921 to 1924. He also served as professor of tactics at the Military Academy and assistant professor at the War Academy.
He retired from active military service in 1926 with the rank of brigadier general.
Political career
In public administration, Bravo Ortíz served as Intendant of Tarapacá between 1925 and 1926, and later as Intendant of Antofagasta until April 1926. He was also president of the board of the newspaper La Nación.He was appointed Minister of War from August to September 1931 during the presidency of Juan Esteban Montero. Between 1931 and 1935, he was a member and founding figure of the Social Republican Party, serving as vice president and later president of the party in 1931.
He later joined the Liberal Party and was a member of a revolutionary committee operating abroad that sought the removal of President Carlos Ibáñez del Campo.
Bravo Ortíz was elected senator for Valparaíso and Aconcagua for the period 1932–1937 and was re-elected for the term 1937–1945. During his second term, he served as President of the Senate from June 1939 to May 1941.
He was a member of the Standing Committees on National Defense, Police Affairs, Foreign Relations, and the Joint Budget Committee.
Publications and honors
Among his published works are:To My Comrades of the Army and Navy of Chile.Complicity of Chilean Freemasonry with the Ibáñez Dictatorship.Two Speeches on Chile’s International Position, delivered in the Senate on 24 November 1942.He received several decorations, including the Order of the Crown of Italy, the Spanish Cross of Military Merit, and silver and gold service stars for 20 and 30 years of military service.