List of Chileans
This is a list of Chileans who are famous or notable.
Economists
- Eduardo Aninat - finance minister during Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle presidential period. Former Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (1999-2003)
- Hernán Büchi - Columbia University trained economist. Minister of Economy during Pinochet dictatorship. The father of the country's economic miracle
- Ricardo Caballero - MIT professor, Department of Economics
- Sebastián Edwards - UCLA professor, former World Bank officer (1993-1996), prolific author and media personality
- Alejandro Foxley - Chile's first Finance Minister after the return of democracy in 1990 and an engineer of the country's economic miracle during democracy; current Foreign Affairs minister
- Óscar Landerretche - University of Oxford D.Phil (PhD), former CEO of the Chilean Development Agency, CORFO, and former Minister of Energy during Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle presidential period
- José Piñera - implemented the privatization of the Chilean pension system under Pinochet
- Andrés Velasco - Sumitomo Professor of International Finance and Development in the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University; current Finance Minister
- Nicolás Eyzaguirre - former Finance Minister
Filmmakers
- Alejandro Amenábar - Chilean/Spanish director (Tesis (or Snuff), Open Your Eyes, The Others, Mar Adentro)
- Silvio Caiozzi - (Julio Begins in July, The Moon in the Mirror, Coronation)
- Patricio Guzmán - documentarian (The Battle of Chile)
- Ricardo Larraín - (The Frontier, Enthusiasm)
- Miguel Littin - (Jackal of Nahueltoro, Sandino, Tierra del Fuego)
- Alejandro Jodorowsky - Director (The Holy Mountain, El Topo, Santa Sangre), actor, and writer
- Raúl (Raoul) Ruiz - (Palomita Blanca, Genealogies of a Crime, Time Regained) resides in France
- Alexander Witt - director (Resident Evil: Apocalypse)
- Andrés Wood - (Machuca)
- Jorge López Sotomayor - (El Último Grumete de la Baquedano, XS, la peor talla)
Heads of State
(See Presidents of Chile.)
Military
- José Miguel Carrera - Independentist leader of the Patria Vieja.
- Caupolicán - leader of the Araucanian who fiercely resisted the Spanish conquest of Chile
- Manuel Contreras - head of Augusto Pinochet's National Intelligence Directorate (DINA)
- Manuel Rodríguez - Independentist leader and guerrilla leader during the Reconquista.
- Lautaro - Araucanian military leader during the Spanish conquest of Chile
- Bernardo O'Higgins - founder of modern Chile, Fatherland's Father and Liberator
- Augusto Pinochet - military dictator from 1973 to 1990
- Ignacio Carrera Pinto - Captain in charge of the Chilean patrol who died in La Concepción Battle.
- Arturo Prat - captain of the Esmeralda ship at the Iquique Naval Combat; regarded as national hero.
- Juan MacKenna - Irish born organizer of O'Higgins's Army.
- Patricio Lynch - Governor of Lima during the Chilean occupation of Lima, Perú, during the War of the Pacific.
- Manuel Baquedano - General of the Chilean Forces during the War of the Pacific.
- Eleuterio Ramírez - officer, hero of the War of the Pacific.
- José Ignacio Zenteno - Lieutenant Colonel of the Army of the Andes, Minister of War and Marine in the O'Higgins government
Musicians
- Tom Araya - singer/bassist for rock group Slayer.
- Claudio Arrau - classical piano player.
- Roberto Bravo - classical piano player.
- Germán Casas - 1960s singer.
- Beto Cuevas - lead singer from rock group La Ley
- Tito Fernández - folklorist; known as El Temucano.
- Luis 'Lucho' Gatica - bolero singer.
- Eduardo Gatti - one of the leading composers of modern Chilean music.
- Jorge Gonzalez - lead singer and song writer of historic Chilean rock band Los Prisioneros
- Myriam Hernández - popular music singer.
- Víctor Jara - singer-songwriter, killed by the Pinochet regime in 1973.
- Margot Loyola - folk musician and researcher
- DJ Méndez - Rap singer (resides in Sweden).
- Ángel Parra - folk musician (Nueva Canción); son of Violeta Parra.
- Isabel Parra - folk musician; daughter of Violeta Parra.
- Javiera Parra - lead singer from group Javiera y los Imposibles.
- Violeta Parra - internationally known Chilean folk singer.
- Palmenia Pizarro - bolero singer (resides in Mexico).
- Alberto Plaza - romantic ballad singer-songwriter.
- Verónica Villarroel - soprano.
- Alejandro Guarello - music composer, born in 1951.
- Ramón Vinay - tenor.
Performers
- Horatio Sanz - comedian, actor, (SNL)
- Patricio Contreras - actor
- Cristián de la Fuente - actor, model
- Jorge Garcia - actor, comedian
- Gloria Münchmeyer - actress (The Moon in the Mirror)
- Leonor Varela - actress (Blade II, The Man in the Iron Mask)
- Malú Gatica - actress and singer
- Tamara Acosta - actress
Plastic artists
- Claudio Bravo - hyper-realism painter (1936- ?)
- Miguel Venegas - painter. Called "El Maestro" (the Master)
- José Balmes - painter (1927- ?)
- Benito Rojo - painter
- Mario Carreño - Cuban born Chilean painter
- Carlos Catasse - painter
- Ana Cortes - painter
- Augusto Eguiluz - painter
- Gregorio de la Fuente - painter1875-1964
- Roberto Humeras - painter
- Fernando Ibarra - painter
- Pedro Lobos - painter
- Enrique Lopez - painter
- Roberto Matta - painter, sculptor
- Camilo Mori - painter
- Enriqueta Petit - painter
- Carlos Sotomayor - main Cubist painter in the country
- Pablo Vidor - painter
- Pedro Lira - painter (1845-1912)
- Nemésio Antúnez - painter (1918-1993)
- Sammy Benmayor - painter
- Hector Caceras - painter
- Pablo Burchard - German born Chilean painter (1875-1964)
- Juan Egenau - sculptor (1927-1987)
- Thomas Sommerscales - English born Chilean painter (1842-1927)
Poets
- Sergio Badilla - poet, father of the "Transrealism poetry"
- Elicura Chihuailaf - Mapuche poet
- Vicente Huidobro - father of the "Creationism" movement in Paris
- Enrique Lihn
- Manuel Francisco Mesa Seco - poet of the Maule Region
- Gabriela Mistral - winner of the Nobel prize for literature
- Pablo Neruda - winner of the Nobel prize for literature
- Nicanor Parra - self-styled anti-poet
- Gonzalo Rojas - 2004 Cervantes Prize winner
- Pablo de Rokha
- Jorge Teillier - poet
Politicians
- Clodomiro Almeyda - socialist politician
- Soledad Alvear - former Justice minister and Foreign minister; current PDC senator
- Carlos Dávila - former Secretary General of the Organization of American States
- Fernando Flores - socialist politician; current PS senator
- Tomás Hirsch - former president of the Humanist Party of Chile and 2005 candidate for president
- José Miguel Insulza - former Interior minister; current Secretary General of the Organization of American States
- Joaquín Lavín - Independent Democratic Union candidate for presidency in 2005 election
- Orlando Letelier - Foreign Minister during Salvador Allende's government murdered by the Pinochet regime in Washington D.C.
- Gladys Marín - Communist leader
- Diego Portales - Minister, major designer of the Chilean State during the first half of 19th century
- Sebastián Piñera - businessman and politician; National Renewal candidate for presidency in 2005
- Laura Rodríguez - first Humanist Party deputy in the world
- Jaime Guzmán - right wing politician during the Pinochet regime.
- Sergio Fernández - right wing politician during the Pinochet regime.
Religious figures
- Saint Teresa de los Andes - first Chilean saint
- Saint Alberto Hurtado - second Chilean saint
- Blessed Laura Vicuña
- Fray Camilo Henríquez
- Mario Hiriart - Serve of God
- Monseñor José Ignacio Cienfuegos - Catholic Bishop from Talca who led the Chilean independence movement in 1810.
- José María Cardinal Caro - first Chilean cardinal
- Raúl Cardinal Silva Henríquez - second Chilean cardinal born in Talca; a human rights advocate.
- Juan Francisco Cardinal Fresno - third Chilean cardinal
- Francisco Javier Cardinal Errázuriz - fouth Chilean cardinal
- Jorge Cardinal Medina - fifth Chilean cardinal; a conservative figure.
Sports
- Marlene Ahrens - athlete; Olympic silver medalist
- Luis Ayala - tennis player; twice French Open finalist
- Carlos Caszely - football player. He missed a historical penalty.
- Patricio Cornejo - tennis player, 1976 Davis Cup Finalist
- Carlo de Gavardo - KTM rally motorcyclist.
- Patricia Demick - Chile's first world boxing champion.
- Elías Figueroa - football player; three times elected as Best Football Player of America
- Jaime Fillol - tennis player, 1976 Davis Cup finalist
- Arturo Godoy - boxer, fought Joe Louis twice for the World Heavyweight title
- Fernando González - tennis player; Chile's first Olympic gold medal with Massú.
- Sergio Sapo Livingstone - Chilean football goalkeeper
- Anita Lizana - tennis player; 1937 US Open champion
- Nicolás Massú - tennis player; two-time Olympic gold medalist.
- Iván Morovic - chess International Grandmaster
- Érika Olivera - athlete; gold medal winner in women's marathon at the 1999 Pan American Games
- Marcelo Ríos - first Latin American man to become world number-one tennis player.
- Marcelo Salas - football player. Holds the record for most goals playing for the national team. Won titles with every team where he played.
- Eliseo Salazar - race car driver. Competed in Formula 1 intermittently from 1980-1982, moved to Champ Car and the Indy Racing League
- Leonel Sánchez - football player
- José Santos - jockey, winner of US Triple Crown
- Martín Vargas - Boxer, arguably the most famous boxer in Chile's history
- Iván Zamorano - football player; first chilean top scorer in a major league with Real Madrid, top national team top scorer before Marcelo Salas
Scientists
- Eric Goles - mathematician
- Humberto Maturana - biologist, co-author of the theory of Autopoiesis
- María Teresa Ruiz - astronomer
- Claudio Bunster - physicist
- Erik Bongcam-Rudloff - bioinformatician
- Francisco Varela - biologist, co-author of the theory of Autopoiesis.
- Klaus von Storch - Chile's first likely astronaut
- Ulrike Heberlein - Associate Professor at UCSF Dept. of Anatomy
Television personalities
- Cecilia Bolocco - Former Miss Universe, wife of former president of Argentina Carlos Saúl Menem
- Gonzalo Cáceres - anchor man for Spanish Language News Deutsche Welle
- Angélica Castro - model, E! host
- Mario Kreutzberger (Don Francisco) - Host of television show Sábado Gigante
- Lucía Newman - CNN senior correspondent
- Antonio Vodanović - former Viña del Mar International Song Festival host
- Sergio Lagos - currently Viña del Mar International Song Festival host 2006
- Amaro Gómez-Pablos - Spanish born Chilean TV news anchor
Writers
- Isabel Allende - novelist (The House of Spirits)
- Roberto Ampuero - novelist (Cayetano Brulé series)
- Roberto Bolaño - novelist (The Wild Detectives)
- Francisco Coloane - (Tierra del fuego)
- José Donoso - (Coronation)
- Ariel Dorfman - novelist, playwright (Death and the Maiden), academic, essayist, journalist and human rights activist
- Jorge Edwards - 1999 Cervantes Prize winner
- Alberto Fuguet - novelist, short story writer Mala Onda, Las películas de mi vida, and filmmaker Se Arrienda
- Alberto Blest Gana - novelist
- Luis Sepúlveda - novelist
- Antonio Skármeta - author of Ardiente Paciencia ("Burning Patience") which inspired the movie Il Postino (The Postman) about poet Pablo Neruda.
- Amparo Pozo - poetry and essayist won the Municipalidad de Talca writers prize, publisher of the literature monthly magazine "Acanthus" since 1967.
- Omar Pérez Santiago - novelist
Architects
- Alejandro Aravena
- Mathias Klotz
- Francisco Borja Huidobro
- Emilio Duhart
- Alberto Cruz Covarrubias - founder of the avant garde "Amereida" movement and of the School of Architecture of the Catholic University of Valparaíso.
- Gioacchino Toesca - designer of the presidential house "La Moneda", in Santiago
- Christián de Groote
- Germán del Sol
- Fernando Castillo Velasco
- Gonzalo Mardones
Others
- Agustin Huneeus - respected vintner that was a pioneer in Chile and was awarded the Wine Spectator's Service Award, their highest honor.
- Claudio Grossman - chairman of the Human Rights Interamerican Court
- Themo Lobos - comic artist
- Juan Somavia - Director-General of the International Labour Organization
- Arturo Valenzuela - former White House adviser to President Clinton
- José Miguel Vivanco - executive director, Human Rights Watch Americas Division (Latin America and the Caribbean)
- David Moya - football player
- Andrónico Luksic - chairman of Quiñenco Holdings, which owns Banco de Chile, Antofagasta Minerals, one of the largest Chilean financial groups.
- Ricardo Claro - lawyer and businessman, link to Megavisión, a TV station, Claro & Cia, law firm, and Compañía Sudamericana de Vapores, a shipping line.
- Luis Silva de Balboa public figure,columnist and businessman
- Catalina de los Rios y Lisperguer, La Quintrala, aristocratic and sadistic landowner and witch during the Colonial Period.