Francisco Javier Ángel Figueroa Larraín (17 January 1862 – 26 June 1945) was a Chilean lawyer, judge and Liberal Party politician.
He served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, held several ministerial portfolios, and was twice President of the Supreme Court of Chile. He was also the presidential candidate supported by the Radical, Liberal and Democratic parties in the 1915 Chilean presidential election.
Early life and education
Figueroa was born in Santiago, Chile, on 17 January 1862, the son of former deputy Francisco de Paula Figueroa Araoz and Rosalía Larraín Echeverría. His brothers included senator Joaquín Figueroa and Emiliano Figueroa, who later served as President of Chile.
He attended Colegio San Ignacio between 1871 and 1877 and the Instituto Nacional in 1876. He subsequently studied at the Faculty of Law of the University of Chile and was admitted to the bar on 4 July 1882. His thesis was entitled El estudio comparado del derecho civil y comercial ("The comparative study of civil and commercial law").
On 24 November 1884, he married Inés Arrieta Cañas. Their children included Fernando, María, Raquel, Adriana, Sergio and Gabriela.
In addition to practising law, Figueroa was involved in agriculture and introduced modern agricultural practices on his properties.
Political career
Figueroa was a prominent member of the Liberal Party and served as its president in 1905, 1921 and 1926. During the 1910s, he advocated the reunification of the different factions of Chilean liberalism.
From December 1889 until 6 January 1901, Figueroa served as secretary of the Treasury Directorate, where he also worked as a government attorney.
Under President Federico Errázuriz Echaurren, he was appointed Minister of War and Navy, serving from 29 June to 2 September 1899.
Figueroa was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for Caupolicán for the 1903–1906 legislative term, during which he served on the Standing Committee on Finance. He left the Chamber upon taking his seat in the Senate in May 1906.
Under President Germán Riesco, Figueroa served as Minister of Justice and Public Instruction from 18 March to 1 August 1905. He later served as acting minister in the same portfolio in 1908 under President Pedro Montt.
Following a by-election held on 7 January 1906, Figueroa was elected senator for Santiago for the remainder of the 1903–1909 term, replacing Carlos Walker Martínez, who had died in October 1905. He provisionally took his seat on 9 May 1906, and his credentials were approved on 9 July. In the Senate, he served on the Standing Committee on Constitution, Legislation and Justice and the Standing Committee on Public Instruction, and as a substitute member of the Standing Committee on Worship and Colonization.
Under President Pedro Montt, Figueroa served as Minister of the Interior from 18 September to 29 October 1906 and again from 29 August 1908 to 22 January 1909. He also briefly served as acting Minister of Industry and Public Works on 12 March 1908.
Figueroa was a member of the Council of State from 1904 to 1915.
1915 presidential candidacy
In 1915, the Radical, Liberal and Democratic parties supported Figueroa as their candidate for the presidency. His opponent, Juan Luis Sanfuentes, was supported by the Liberal Democratic, Conservative and Moderate Liberal parties. Figueroa was not elected.
In 1919, following the death of senator Pedro Vicente Reyes, the Liberal Party proposed Figueroa as its candidate for the vacant Senate seat, but he declined the nomination.
Judicial career Figueroa served as an abogado integrante (substitute judicial member) of the Supreme Court of Chile in 1920. On 22 May 1923, he was appointed a full justice of the court, and on 4 December 1925 he became its president.
On 7 April 1927, Figueroa was removed from office and sent into exile by the government. He initially travelled to Buenos Aires and subsequently to Europe, returning to Chile in late 1928.
He returned to the presidency of the Supreme Court on 30 July 1931 and remained in the position until his retirement on 30 June 1932.
On 3 October 1932, Vice President Abraham Oyanedel appointed Figueroa Minister of the Interior. He held the position for only one day.
Figueroa also served as president of the Caja Nacional de Empleados Públicos y Periodistas and as legal adviser and president of the Banco Garantizador de Valores. He was a director of Beneficencia and of the Hospital Josefina Martínez de Ferrari, holding the latter position at the time of his death.
He was a member of the Academia de Ciencias Morales de España and an honorary member of the Centro Liberal. He was also an honorary member of the Club de la Unión and the Sociedad de Fomento Fabril (SOFOFA).
Figueroa died in Santiago on 26 June 1945, at the age of 83.
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