Pedro Montt

This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Montt and the second or maternal family name is Montt.
Pedro Montt
15th President of Chile
In office
September 18, 1906  August 16, 1910
Preceded by Germán Riesco
Succeeded by Elías Fernández
Personal details
Born (1849-06-29)June 29, 1849
Santiago, Chile
Died August 16, 1910(1910-08-16) (aged 61)
Bremen, Germany
Political party National
Spouse(s) Sara del Campo Yávar
Signature

Pedro Elías Pablo Montt Montt (29 June 1849, Santiago, Chile – 16 August 1910, Bremen, Germany)[1] was a Chilean political figure. He served as the president of Chile from 1906 to his death from a probable stroke in 1910. His government furthered railroad and manufacturing activities but ignored pressing social and labour problems.

Biography

The son of the former Chilean president Manuel Montt Torres and Rosario Montt Goyenechea, Pedro Montt graduated in law from the National Institute in 1870. He was elected a member of the Chamber of Deputies in 1876 and became its president in 1885. Montt held two posts in the cabinet of President José Manuel Balmaceda, but in 1891 he took an active part in the revolution that overthrew Balmaceda. He then went to the United States, first as an agent of the revolutionary junta and later (after U.S. recognition) as Minister.

Unsuccessful in his first bid for the presidency in 1901, Montt was elected by a large majority in 1906 as the candidate of the National Union ticket. His first action was to call out the army to suppress large-scale strikes in 1907, which resulted in the Santa María School massacre. His administration supported the construction of a railway that ran the length of the country and stimulated the production of nitrates and copper. It did little, however, to improve the living conditions of the people. In 1909, then-child-prodigy pianist Claudio Arrau played for Montt, who was so taken by the performance that he authorized a ten-year grant from the Chilean government for Arrau to study in Europe. In 1910, Montt left Chile for medical treatment in Germany, but died before he could return to Chile.

See also

References

Political offices
Preceded by
Position created
Minister of Industry and Public Works
1887-1888
Succeeded by
Vicente Dávila
Preceded by
Juan de Dios Vial
Minister of Finance
1889-1890
Succeeded by
Pedro Nolasco Gandarillas
Preceded by
Ramón Barros Luco
Minister of the Interior
1893-1894
Succeeded by
Enrique Mac-Iver
Preceded by
Germán Riesco
President of Chile
1906-1910
Succeeded by
Elías Fernández


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