Jaime Alfonso Quintana Burgos (31 December 1891 – 27 August 1972) was a Chilean lawyer, politician and diplomat.
Early life and education Quintana was born in Chillán, Chile, on 31 December 1891, the only son of Santiago Quintana Contreras and María Isabel Burgos Quintana. He received his primary education at the Liceo de Chillán and completed his secondary education at the Instituto Nacional in Santiago. He subsequently studied law at the University of Chile. He qualified as a lawyer on 11 June 1918 after completing a thesis entitled Operaciones de bolsa ("Stock exchange transactions").
Quintana initially practised law in Chillán and later in Santiago. Following Carlos Ibáñez del Campo's rise to power, he was exiled to Aysén, returning after the fall of Ibáñez's government in 1931. He served as an acting attorney for the Court of Appeals of Chillán from 1937 to 1938, and as legal counsel to the Agricultural Credit Fund from 1939 to 1942.
On 23 March 1923, Quintana married Berta Benavente de la Barra in Yungay.
Political career A member of the Radical Party (PR), Quintana was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in the 1932 parliamentary election, representing the 16th Departmental Constituency of Chillán, Bulnes and Yungay for the 1933–1937 legislative term. During his tenure, he served on the Permanent Commission on Constitution, Legislation and Justice, where he was actively involved in efforts to establish a Court of Appeals in Chillán. After leaving Congress, he returned to Chillán, where he served first as a municipal councillor and later as mayor.
On 24 October 1940, President Pedro Aguirre Cerda appointed Quintana Minister of Agriculture. He remained in office until 10 July 1941."150 ñublensinos que marcan la historia de Chillán y la región. Edición especial "150 años de Diario La Discusión". Chillán, Chile, pages 70–99. 5 February 2020 In 1942, he was appointed executive vice-president of the Institute of Agricultural Economics. In 1948, he served as legal counsel to the Department of Agricultural Mechanised Equipment of the Production Development Corporation (Corfo) and, in the same year, as a board member of the Reconstruction and Relief Corporation.
On 1 September 1943, President Juan Antonio Ríos appointed Quintana Minister of Agriculture for a second time, a position he held until 6 October 1944. On that date, he was appointed Minister of the Interior. His appointment followed the unsuccessful tenures of Morales Beltramí, Hiriart and Allard, all of whom belonged to the right wing of the Radical Party. Quintana's position was subsequently undermined by opposition from the party's National Executive Council (CEN), and he ultimately resigned. During his tenure as interior minister, he served as Vice President of the Republic from 12 October to 27 November 1944 while President Ríos was unable to perform his duties because of illness. He was later succeeded at the Interior Ministry by Hernán Figueroa Anguita, who was unable to take office and was in turn replaced by Luis Álamos Barros on 14 May 1945. While serving as interior minister, Quintana also served in an acting capacity as Minister of Foreign Affairs, until 22 May 1945.
Quintana was subsequently appointed Chilean ambassador to Argentina, where he was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of the Liberator General San Martín. He remained in the diplomatic post until 1948. That year, he returned to Chile and was appointed Minister of the Interior by President Gabriel González Videla, serving from 21 July to 25 August 1948.
Quintana later returned to González Videla's cabinet as Minister of the Interior, serving from 29 March 1951 to 29 July 1952. In that capacity, he accompanied González Videla on an official visit to Chillán on 25 September 1951 to commemorate the bicentenary of the third founding of the city. During the visit, the Municipality of Chillán named Quintana an Illustrious Son of the city. While serving as interior minister, he was also appointed acting Minister of Agriculture, holding that portfolio from 3 April to 29 July 1952.
In addition to his government posts, Quintana served as a director of the state-owned Nitrate and Iodine Sales Corporation from 1949 to 1952. From 1959 to 1964, he was president of the council of the Public Debt Amortisation Fund.
Quintana died in Santiago, Chile, on 27 August 1972. At the time of his death, he was a member of Radical Democracy.
References
External links BCN Profile