List of Chileans

This is a list of Chileans who are famous or notable.

Flag of Chile

Coat of Arms

Bernardo O'Higgins, founder of modern Chile

Economists

Ricardo J. 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; former Foreign Affairs minister, and former Chilean Senator for East kakarackoj
Manfred Max Neef – Right Livelihood Award winner, presidential candidate, member of the Club of Rome, former president of the Universidad Austral
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; Finance Minister during Bachelet's administration

Military

Manuel Baquedano – general of the Chilean forces during the War of the Pacific
Philip Bazaar – recipient of the US Navy Medal of Honour
José Miguel Carrera – first Commander-in-Chief of the Chilean Army and Independence leader of the Patria Vieja
Luis Carrera – Chilean military officer in the War of Independence
Ignacio Carrera Pinto – captain in charge of the Chilean patrol who died in Battle of La Concepción
Carlos Condell – captain of the Covadonga ship at the Iquique Naval Combat
Manuel Contreras – head of Augusto Pinochet's National Intelligence Directorate (DINA)
Manuel Hipólito Orella – sailor who was one of the first midshipman of the Chilean Navy
Patricio Lynch – governor of Lima during the Chilean occupation of Lima, Perú, during the War of the Pacific
Juan MacKenna – Irish-born organizer of O'Higgins's Army
Bernardo O'Higgins – founder of modern Chile
Arturo Prat – captain of the Esmeralda ship at the Iquique Naval Combat; regarded as a national hero
Luis Pardo – also known as Piloto Pardo, Chilean Navy captain who rescued the survivors of the Shackleton expedition
Sofanor Parra – officer of the cavalry branch of the Chilean Army who fought in almost all the military actions of the War of the Pacific
Juan de Quiroga y Apablaza – military figure
Manuel Rodríguez – Independence leader and guerrilla leader during the Reconquista
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

Los Abandoned – alternative rock band
Altazores – rock band founded in 2004 by Mauricio Herrera
Américo – cumbia chilena singer
Tom Araya – singer/bassist for thrash metal band Slayer
Daniela Aleuy - singer and songwriter
Claudio Arrau – classical piano player
FloyyMenor – reggaeton singer
Cris MJ – reggaeton singer
Paloma Mami – reggaeton singer
Germán Casas – 1960s singer
Beto Cuevas – lead singer from rock group La Ley
Luis 'Lucho' Gatica – bolero singer
Eduardo Gatti – a leading composer of modern Chilean music
Jorge González – controversial lead singer and songwriter of historic Chilean rock band Los Prisioneros
Luis "Checho" González – folklore composer, born in Iquique
Rodrigo González – bassist and singer of the German band die Ärzte
Alberto Guerrero – Chilean–Canadian composer, pianist, and teacher
Myriam Hernández – popular music singer
Alicia Ika – native Rapa Nui actress, musician, songwriter, surf instructor and tourist agent. Star in 180 Degrees South: Conquerors of the Useless (2010).
Pascuala Ilabaca – singer-songwriter
Inti-Illimani – pioneers of the nueva canción chilena movement; known communists and "pro-democracy" activists in exile during Pinochet dictatorship
Isleña Antumalen – Huilliche singer, rapper, and activist
Víctor Jara – Chilean folk singer and theatrical director; political activist; communist
Alain Johannes – Chilean-born musician, songwriter, sound engineer; best known as founding member of Alternative Rock American band Eleven
Oscar Lopez – senior latin guitarists musician, born in Santiago
Rafael Manríquez – nueva canción musician
Javiera Mena – Indie electropop musician
DJ Méndez – urban music producer
Mon Laferte – singer-songwriter
El Monteaguilino – Cueca composer, born in Monte Águila
La Noche – cumbia chilena band
Chañaral Ortega-Miranda – contemporary composer
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 – Chilean folk singer
Antonio Prieto – singer and actor known in English for "The Bride" or "The Wedding" song
Quilapayún – nueva canción ensemble, supporters of Popular Unity (UP) coalition during presidency of Salvador Allende
Leo Rey – cumbia chilena singer
Alejandro Silva – heavy metal guitar player
Saiko – pop rock band
Clara Solovera (1909–1992) – songwriter, born in Santiago
Esther Soré (1915–1996) – 1940s singer, born in Santiago
Fernando Ubiergo – folk singer-songwriter (Chilean folk), born in Valparaíso
Francisca Valenzuela – singer-songwriter
Ricardo Villalobos – minimal techno artist
Verónica Villarroel – soprano
Ramón Vinay – tenor

Artists

Claudio Bravo (1936–2011) – hyper-realist painter
Carlos Catasse – painter
Marta Colvin – sculptor
Alfredo Jaar – installation artist, filmmaker and architect
Olga Lehmann – painter
Roberto Matta – painter, sculptor
Camilo Mori – painter
Dora Puelma – artist
Carlos Sotomayor – cubist painter
Miguel Venegas – painter, called "El Maestro" (the Master)

Politicians

Juana Rosa Aguirre – former first lady, wife of Pedro Aguirre Cerda
Arturo Alessandri – served twice as president of Chile
Jorge Alessandri – 27th President of Chile; President of Council of State under Pinochet Regime
Salvador Allende – former senator and president of Chile; ousted in a military coup
Clodomiro Almeyda – socialist politician
Soledad Alvear – former Justice minister and Foreign minister; current PDC senator
Celinda Arregui – feminist politician, writer, teacher, suffrage activist
Gabriel Boric – first youth leader politician of Chile
Michelle Bachelet – first woman president of Chile
Juan Chandía – governor of Department of Tomé [es] for 1946–1952
Carlos Dávila – former Secretary General of the Organization of American States
Florencio Durán – former president of the senate
Héctor Faúndez – diplomat
Fernando Flores – businessman and former senator
Gabriel González Videla – 25th President of Chile (1946-1952)
Jaime Guzmán – right wing politician during the Pinochet regime; murdered by Manuel Rodríguez Patriotic Front on April 1, 1991; former UDI Senator
Tomás Hirsch – former president of the Humanist Party of Chile; 2005 candidate for president
Antonia Illanes – lawyer and politician
José Miguel Insulza – former Interior minister; current Secretary General of the Organization of American States
José Antonio Kast — president of the Republican Party, former deputy and councilman, presidential candidate in 2017 and in 2021.
Carlos Keller – former Leader of the National Socialist Movement of Chile, responsible for the organization of the Seguro Obrero Massacre
Joaquín Lavín – Independent Democratic Union candidate for presidency in 2005 election; former mayor of Las Condes and Santiago
Orlando Letelier – Foreign Minister during Salvador Allende's government murdered during the Pinochet regime in Washington, D.C.
Gladys Marín – communist leader, feminist activist, lived in exile, opposed conservatism and liberal economy, admirer of Lenin and Marx
Raúl Morales Beltramí – politician and physician
Herman Chadwick Piñera – Chilean lawyer, businessman, trade union leader and politician
Sebastián Piñera – Chilean billionaire, businessman and politician; former President of Chile
Aníbal Pinto – 9th President of Chile (1876-1881)
Augusto Pinochet – Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Chile, President of the Government Junta of Chile, dictator from 1973 until 1990 and President from 1981 onwards.
Diego Portales – Minister, major designer of the Chilean State during the first half of the 19th century
Juan Antonio Ríos (1888–1946) – Chilean lawyer, political figure and 24th President of Chile
Laura Rodríguez – first Humanist Party deputy in the world
Jennifer Rojas – social worker and politician
Camila Vallejo – Member of Parliament, led 2011 student protests in Chile
Adolfo Zaldívar – PRI senator, former leader of the PDC
Andrés Zaldívar – former PDC senator
Herminia Colihueque, Mapuche first woman to run in an election for a political office

Religious figures

Rodolfo Acevedo – Mormon bishop
Saint Teresa de los Andes – first Chilean saint
Carlos Camus – Chilean bishop
Francisco Javier Errázuriz – fourth Chilean cardinal
Juan Francisco Fresno – third Chilean cardinal
Raúl Silva Henríquez – second Chilean cardinal born in Talca; human rights advocate
Alberto Hurtado – saint
Jorge Medina – fifth Chilean cardinal; conservative figure
Fr. Juan Ignacio Molina – Chilean priest, naturalist, historian, botanist, ornithologist, geographer
José María Caro Rodríguez – first Chilean cardinal
Francisco Javier Quintanilla – theologian
Juan Subercaseaux Errázuriz – Chilean Roman Catholic Archbishop
José María Vélaz – Chilean priest
Blessed Laura Vicuña

Sports

Omar Aguilar – long-distance runner
Marlene Ahrens – javelin thrower; Olympic silver medalist
Fernando Alvarez – jockey
David Arellano – football player; namesake of Colo-Colo's stadium
Luis Ayala – tennis player; twice French Open finalist
Gonzalo Barrios – eSports player
Claudio Bravo – football player, FC Barcelona
Ben Brereton – football player
Nick Carle – football player, Sydney FC
Patricio Castañeda – football player
Carlos Caszely – football player
Patricio Cornejo – tennis player, 1976 Davis Cup finalist
Cristian Garín – tennis player, winner of 4 ATP titles
Carlo de Gavardo – KTM rally motorcyclist
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; only Chilean to win gold, silver and bronze medals at the Summer Olympics
Tomás González – gymnast, Olympic finalist
Juan Halty – former professional footballer
Kai Horwitz (born 1998) – Olympic alpine skier
Luis Jiménez (born 1987) – footballer
Benjamín Kuscevic – football player
Alberto Larraguibel – horse rider, record for puissance (high jump) on horseback
Sergio Sapo Livingstone – Chilean football goalkeeper
Anita Lizana – tennis player; 1937 US Open champion; first Latin American, and first Hispanic person, to be ranked World Number 1 in tennis
Nicolás Massú (born 1979) – tennis player; highest world ranking #9, Olympic 2-time champion (singles and doubles)
Carlos Moreno – track and field sprinter
Iván Morovic – chess International Grandmaster
Isidora Niemeyer – rower
Érika Olivera – marathon runner; gold medal winner in women's marathon at the 1999 Pan American Games
Andrés Parada - footballer
Manuel Pellegrini – former footballer for Universidad de Chile, former manager of Real Madrid
Alejandra Ramos – middle-distance runner
Monica Regonesi – long-distance runner
Sammis Reyes – basketball and American football player; first Chilean to play in the NFL
Fernando Riera – Chile's most successful soccer coach; led the national team to a third-place finish in the 1962 World Cup
Marcelo Ríos – first Latin American man to become world number-one tennis player
Eduardo Robledo – football player, Newcastle United F.C.
Jorge Robledo – player, Newcastle United F.C.
Jose Romero – AFL player, Western Bulldogs
Sebastián Rozental (born 1976) - professional soccer player
Bayron Saavedra (born 1997) – footballer
Marcelo Salas – football player; holds the record for most goals playing for the national team; won titles with every team he played with
Eliseo Salazar – race car driver, competed in Formula One intermittently from 1980–1982, moved to Champ Car and the Indy Racing League
Alexis Sánchez – football player, Inter Milan
Leonel Sánchez – football player, 1962 World Cup top scorer
José A. Santos – jockey, winner of US Triple Crown
Alejandro Silva – long-distance runner
Pablo Squella – middle-distance runner
José Sulantay – Chile's second most successful soccer coach, led the under 20 national team to a third-place finish at the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada
Emilio Ulloa – long-distance runner
Dion Valle – football player, Marconi Stallions FC
Rodrigo Vargas – football player, Melbourne Victory FC
Arturo Vidal – football player, FC Barcelona
Gert Weil – shot putter
Iván Zamorano – football player

Scientists and engineers

Ricardo Baeza Rodríguez – mathematician
Ricardo Baeza-Yates – computer scientist
Erik Bongcam-Rudloff – bioinformatician
Claudio Bunster – physicist
Marcela Contreras – immunologist
F. J. Duarte – laser physicist
Matias Duarte – software inventor
Julio M. Fernandez – biologist, academic
Eric Goles – mathematician
Mario Hamuy – cosmologist and astronomer
Cesar A. Hidalgo – physicist
Cecilia Hidalgo Tapia – biochemist
Adriana Hoffmann – botanist, Environment Minister (2000–2001)
Paula Jofré – astronomer and astrophysicist
Humberto Maturana – biologist, co-author of the theory of autopoiesis
Juan Ignacio Molina – 18th and 19th-century natural scientist
Hermann Niemeyer – paediatrician and biochemist
Ernestina Pérez Barahona, physician
María Teresa Ruiz – astronomer
Elisa Torres Durney - outstanding quantum student
Gunther Uhlmann - mathematician
Pablo DT Valenzuela – biotechnologist, co-founder of Chiron Corporation and Fundacion Ciencias Para la Vida
Francisco Varela – biologist, co-author of the theory of autopoiesis

Film and television personalities

Alejandro Amenábar - film director, screenwriter and composer
Cecilia Amenábar - actress, TV presenter and model
Cecilia Bolocco - TV presenter, journalist and former Miss Universe
Diana Bolocco - TV presenter and journalist
Gabriela Bussenius - journalist, writer and filmmaker
Santiago Cabrera - actor
Felipe Camiroaga - TV presenter
Charissa Chamorro - actress
Martín Cárcamo - TV presenter
Karen Doggenweiler - TV presenter
Julián Elfenbein - radio and TV presenter
Pablo Francisco - comedian, actor and writer
Cristián de la Fuente - actor and model
Alberto Fuguet - film director, author, journalist and film critic
Jorge Garcia - actor and comedian
Paulina García - actress
Luis Gatica - actor
Claudia di Girolamo - actress
Luis Gnecco - actor
Lisa Guerrero - journalist, TV presenter, actress and model
Patricio Guzmán - film director
Alejandro Jodorowsky - filmmaker
Mario Kreutzberger (Don Francisco) – TV presenter
Pablo Larraín - film director
Sebastián Lelio - film director and screenwriter
Ariel Levy - actor
Carolina Mestrovic - TV presenter and actress
Claudio Miranda - cinematographer
Cristina Montt - actress
Cote de Pablo - actress
Pedro Pascal - actor
Carlos Pinto - TV presenter and journalist
Nicole Polizzi – reality TV Personality
Antonio Prieto - actor and singer
Francisco Puelles - actor and TV personality
Francisco Reyes Morandé - actor
Raúl Ruiz^[1] - film director
Katherine Salosny - TV presenter and actress
Horatio Sanz - actor and comedian
Fernando Solis - radio and TV presenter
Tonka Tomicic - TV presenter and model
Catalina Vallejos - actress and model
Leonor Varela - actress and model
Daniela Vega - actress
Gabriela Velasco – actress and television presenter
Benjamín Vicuña - actor
Alexander Witt - filmmaker
Andrés Wood - film director and screenwriter

Writers

Alberto Blest Gana

Gabriela Mistral

Jorge Salgado-Reyes

Lorenzo Aillapán – poet
Fernando Alegría – writer
Isabel Allende – novelist (The House of Spirits)
Roberto Ampuero – novelist (Cayetano Brulé series)
Roberto Bolaño^[2] – novelist (The Savage Detectives, 2666)
Liborio Brieba – writer
Francisco Coloane – (Tierra del fuego)
Angel Cruchaga Santa Maria (1893–1964) – writer, won the Chilean National Prize for Literature in 1948
Ariel Florencia Richards (1981—) – writer and researcher of the visual arts
Eugenio Cruz Vargas (1923–2014) – poet and painter, of Basque descent
Francisco Núñez de Pineda y Bascuñán – writer of Cautiverio feliz y razón individual de las guerras dilatadas del Reino de Chile in 1673
Pablo de Rokha – Chilean National Prize for Literature in 1965
José Donoso^[3] – writer (Coronation, The Obscene Bird of Night)
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; filmmaker, Se Arrienda
Alberto Blest Gana – novelist (Martín Rivas)
Olga Grau - philosopher
Juan Guzman Cruchaga (1895–1979) – poet and diplomat, won the Chilean National Prize for Literature in 1962; of Basque descent
Óscar Hahn – writer and poet
Vicente Huidobro – father of the "Creationism" movement in Paris
Cristián Huneeus – writer
Enrique Lafourcade – novelist
Hernán Rivera Letelier – novelist (Santa María de las Flores Negras, La Reina Isabel Cantaba Rancheras), poet, writer of short stories
Enrique Lihn – poet, playwright, and novelist
Carmen Marai – novelist El Alba de la Mandrágora (The Dawn of the Mandrake), poet, writer of short stories
Sergio Missana – novelist
Gabriela Mistral – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature
Nicolasa Montt – poet
Tomás Moulian – political scientist and sociologist
Pablo Neruda^[4] – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature
Raquel Olea – writer, professor
Nicanor Parra – self-proclaimed "anti-poet"
Adolfo Quiros – (1853–1910), poet
Gonzalo Rojas – 2004 Cervantes Prize winner
Elvira Santa Cruz Ossa – dramatist and novelist
Luis Sepúlveda – novelist
Antonio Skármeta – author of Ardiente Paciencia (Burning Patience), which inspired the movie Il Postino (The Postman), about poet Pablo Neruda
Amelia Solar de Claro – poet, playwright, and essayist
Mercedes Valdivieso – writer
Sergio Vodanovic – playwright

Architects

Alejandro Aravena – 2015 Pritzker Prize winner
Guillermo Jullian de la Fuente
Mathias Klotz – 2001 Borromini Prize of Architecture winner for under-40 architects

Others

Raúl Aldunate Phillips – writer, politician, and soldier^[5]
Cecilia Magni Camino – guerilla leader and sociologist^[6]
Vanessa Ceruti – Miss Universe Chile 2011^{[citation needed]}
Nataly Chilet – Miss World Chile 2008^{[citation needed]}
Claudio Grossman – chairman of the Human Rights Interamerican Court
Hil Hernández – Miss Earth 2006
Immanuel Holger – soldier and politician
Carlos Kaiser – former National Director of the National Fund for Disabilities
Themo Lobos – comic artist
Andrónico Luksic – chairman of Quiñenco Holdings, which owns Banco de Chile, Antofagasta Minerals, one of the largest Chilean financial groups
La Quintrala – Catalina de los Ríos y Lisperguer, aristocratic and sadistic landowner and witch during the Colonial Period
Rene Ríos Boettiger (Pepo) – comic artist (Condorito)
Juana Ross Edwards (1830–1913) – philanthropist
Sergio Saavedra (1927–2022) – engineer and politician
Sola Sierra – human rights activist
Juan Somavia – Director-General of the International Labour Organization
Joaquín Toesca – designer of the presidential house "La Moneda", in Santiago
Maria Jose Ubiergo – Chilean DREAMer in the United States, Story Featured in the New York Times; Family member to notable Chilean Folk Singer Fernando Ubiergo ^[7] Her story has been featured in El Diario, ABC, and News 12 Connecticut, among other media outlets.
Arturo Valenzuela – former Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs
Bernardita Zúñiga – Miss World Chile 2007
Sergio Catalán – first to discover crash survivors of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, and integral to rescuing all 16 remaining survivors^[8]

References

^ Rosenbaum, Jonathan (2004). Essential Cinema: On the Necessity of Film Canons. Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 419–421. ISBN 0-8018-7840-3.
^ "The 21st Century's 12 Greatest Novels". BBC. 19 January 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
^ Bloom, Harold (1994). The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages. NY/San Diego/London: Harcourt Brace & Company. p. 560. ISBN 978-1-57322-514-4.
^ Bloom, Harold (1994). "Borges, Neruda, and Pessoa: Hispanic-Portuguese Whitman". The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages. NY/San Diego/London: Harcourt Brace & Company. pp. 463–492. ISBN 978-1-57322-514-4.
^ Aldunate Phillips, Raúl (1970). La revolución de los tenientes: tres años de la historia de Chile. Desde el ruido de sables en el Senado (septiembre de 1924) durante la presidencia de don Arturo Alessandri Palma, hasta el 2 de julio de 1927 en que asume el mando supremo el coronel Carlos Ibáñez del Campo (in Spanish). Escuela Lito-tipográfica La Gratitud Nacional. Retrieved 2021-03-21. Una mañana, llegó a la Comandancia de "Cazadores", mi compadre el doctor Emilio Aldunate Bascuñán con su hijo Raúl como premio por haberse recibido tempranamente de Bachiller en Humanidades. Cumpliendo sus deseos, me lo traía a hacer la Guardia en mi Regimiento (...)
^ "Recuerdan la vida de Cecilia Magni, la "Comandante Tamara"" [Remembering the life of Cecilia Magni, "Commander Tamara"]. El Ciudano. 2023-02-28.
^ "American Dreamers: Maria Jose Ubiergo". The New York Times. 12 June 2017.
^ "Sergio Catalán, the Chilean muleteer who came to the rescue of the Andes tragedy survivors". El País. 31 January 2024.