Edwards, Agustín (1878–1941)

Agustín Edwards (b. 17 June 1878; d. 1941), Chilean politician, financier, and writer. At age twenty-two, Edwards became one of the youngest members in Chile's House of Representatives. At the same time he became active in the Edwards Bank of Valparaíso. Elected vice president of the House and president of the Ministry of Finance in 1902, he negotiated a peace treaty with Bolivia and initiated the construction of a railroad from Arica to La Paz. In 1906 he began his diplomatic career, serving successively in Italy, Spain, and Switzerland. Upon his return to Chile, he served as finance minister under President Pedro Montt. During World War I he was named envoy to Great Britain in charge of diplomatic and financial affairs and, in 1920, became special envoy to the Court of St. James. In 1921 he was named representative to the League of Nations. He received many honors in Chile and Europe.

While living abroad Edwards studied newspaper and magazine production, then utilized this knowledge in Chile, where he founded the newspaper El Mercurio and several magazines, including Zig-Zag. In the financial domain, he reorganized the Edwards Bank, founded several companies, and was involved in nitrate mining. In 1925 he resolved a conflict with Bolivia and reestablished peace. Among his writings are his Memoria sobre el plebiscito tacneño (1926), in which he opposes a plan to allow Tacna and Arica to determine their nationality; My Native Land (1928), a cultural history of Chile; Peoples of Old (1929), on the Araucanian Indians; The Dawn (1931), on Chilean history from Independence (1810) to the first elected president (1841); and Cuatro presidentes de Chile (1932), on the period from 1841 to 1932.

See alsoLeague of Nations; World War I.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Virgilio Figueroa, Diccionario histórico, biográfico y bibliográfico de Chile, vol. 2 (1974), pp. 20-25.

Additional Bibliography

Uribe, Armando. Carta abierta a Agustín Edwards. Santiago: LOM Ediciones, 2002.

                                     Barbara Mujica