Pedro Castelblanco

Pedro Castelblanco Agüero was a Chilean lawyer, diplomat and Radical Party politician who served as Deputy, President of the Chamber of Deputies, Minister of Agriculture and Ambassador to Mexico and Canada.

Early life and education

Castelblanco was born in Valdivia to Pedro Castelblanco Rodríguez and María Mercedes Agüero Adriasola.
He studied at the German Institute of Valdivia and the Instituto Nacional in Santiago. He then entered the University of Chile, graduating as a lawyer in 1919 with the thesis «El problema penal y penitenciario».
He married Zelmira Ugarte Montaner on 27 October 1921 and had five children.

Career

He served as an officer of the Ministry of Justice, Secretary and later Intendant of Valdivia, and taught Political Economy at the Valdivia Boys’ High School.
He was Director of the Central Bank of Chile and President of the Public Debt Amortisation Office.

Political career

A Radical Party member from 1916, he served as party President several times.
He was elected Deputy for the 22nd Departmental Group for the 1933–1937, 1937–1941 and 1941–1945 terms. He sat on the Standing Committees on Constitution, Legislation and Justice; Government and Interior; and Education.
From 1941 to 1944 he was President of the Chamber of Deputies.
In 1947 President Gabriel González Videla appointed him Minister of Agriculture.

Diplomatic career

Castelblanco was Ambassador of Chile to Mexico and Canada. He headed the Chilean delegation to the Chapultepec Conference and served as Permanent Delegate to the International Labour Organization in Montreal.

Freemasonry

He was initiated in the Lodge “Luz y Trabajo” Nº 32 in 1921, later becoming its Worshipful Master.
From 1961 to 1976 he served as Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council 33° of Chile, being later honoured as Sovereign Grand Commander ad vitam.