Humberto Aguirre Doolan
Humberto Aguirre Doolan was a Chilean agronomist and politician, member of the Radical Party. He served as deputy, senator, and minister of state in the governments of Gabriel González Videla and Alfredo Duhalde Vásquez.
Family and studies
Born in Punta Arenas to Luis Aguirre Cerda and Flora Doolan McGregor. He studied at the Instituto Nacional and the Internado Nacional Barros Arana, and graduated as an agronomist from the University of Chile in 1930.He married Rosa Elena Charlín Aguirre. Later he married writer and poet María Elvira Piwonka Moreno, daughter of former deputy and minister Alfredo Piwonka Gilabert.
Professional career
He joined the Caja de Crédito Agrario in 1931 as appraisal inspector, later working in the Commercial Section. He headed agricultural agencies in Puerto Montt, La Serena and Chillán, and in 1937 became head of the Commercial Section in Santiago. He retired in 1949 after serving as executive vice president of the institution. He also held private-sector roles: director of Industria Maderera A. Figueroa S.A., chairman of the board of insurer Lloyd de Chile and chairman of “Vinex” in 1944.Political career
Aguirre Doolan joined the Radical Party in 1930, serving as delegate to various national conventions. Under President Pedro Aguirre Cerda he was chief secretary of the Presidency. In 1942 he was appointed attaché to the Chilean embassy in Washington, D.C., presided over a bicameral delegation to Cuba, and in 1943 was sent on a special mission to the United States related to the nitrate industry.He served as Minister of Agriculture in the provisional government of Alfredo Duhalde Vásquez, and later as Minister of Lands and Colonization under Gabriel González Videla.
In the 1949 Chilean parliamentary election he was elected deputy for Chillán, Bulnes and Yungay, where he joined and substituted in several permanent commissions, presiding the Agriculture and Colonization Commission. In 1953 he was elected senator for Ñuble, Concepción and Arauco ; reelected in 1961 and again in 1969. He served on the Government, National Defense, Public Works and Agriculture commissions; was PR representative to the party’s National Executive Committee from 1957 ; member of the Pan-American Regional Group ; and participated in interparliamentary conferences. He presided Chile’s delegation to the first Latin American Parliament Congress in Lima and later chaired the Inter-American Regional Interparliamentary Group . In 1971 he left the Radical Party and joined the Radical Left Party. He served as Vice President of the Senate from 3 January to 11 September 1973, when the coup d’état dissolved Congress.
Among his motions that became law were Law No. 11.475, repealing articles 89 and 90 of DFL 148 on Armed Forces personnel matters, and Law No. 17.419 establishing a monument to General René Schneider in Santiago. He also promoted initiatives for educational infrastructure, and intervened in debates on physical education and sports, agrarian reform, pensions and public/private sector adjustments, and Latin American integration.
He received decorations from the governments of Brazil, Peru, Bolivia and Mexico. Under President Salvador Allende he was awarded the O’Higginian and Bolivarian Orders. In August 1973 he was named “illustrious citizen” of Las Condes. After the coup he retired from politics and devoted himself to agricultural activities. He died in Santiago on 25 February 1983.