Fuenzalida Grandón, Alejandro (1865–1942)

Born in the northern Chilean mining city of Copiapó, Alejandro Fuenzalida grew up in an environment of progressive liberal and positivist ideas, the region being one of the major strongholds of the Radical Party. Educated at the Instituto Nacional in Santiago, Fuenzalida also studied law at the University of Chile, where he obtained his degree in 1889. He taught law at his alma mater and history at the Instituto Nacional while devoting himself to research and writing. His most lasting contribution to Chilean intellectual and political history is his edition of the Obras Completas by José Victorino Lastarria (1908), a thinker and statesman to whom he also devoted a considerable biography, Lastarria y su tiempo (1902; 2nd rev. ed., 1911), a far from celebratory account. In addition to writing for the periodicals La libertad electoral and La ley, Fuenzalida also published Historia del desarrollo intelectual en Chile, 1541–1810 (1903), a pioneering work of Chilean intellectual history, and La evolución social de Chile, 1541–1810 (1906), an ambitious essay reflecting the secular views of his Radical contemporaries. In addition to writing, Fuenzalida collaborated with his mentor, the prominent historian Diego Barros Arana in the cataloging of the library of the Instituto Nacional.

See alsoChile, Political Parties: Radical Party; Chile: The Twentieth Century.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Donoso, Ricardo. "El Instituto Pedagógico: Tres generaciones de maestros." Atenea 401 (1963).

Feliú Cruz, Guillermo. Alejandro Fuenzalida Grandón. Santiago de Chile: Imprenta "Jeneral Díaz," 1938.

Gazmuri Riveros, Cristián. Historia de la Historiografía chilena (1842–1970). Santiago de Chile: Taurus, 2006.

                                           IvÁn JaksiĆ