Medardo Goytía Goytía (20 February 1897 – 20 February 1979) was a Chilean architect and politician and a member of the Conservative Party. He served as Minister of Lands and Colonization during the second administration of President Arturo Alessandri from 1937 to 1938.
Early life and education Goytía was born in the Chilean city of Antofagasta on 20 February 1897, the son of José María Goytía and Corina Mercedes Goytía Gómez. He completed his primary education at the Liceo of Antofagasta and his secondary education at the Instituto Nacional. He subsequently studied at the School of Architecture of the University of Chile, graduating as an architect on 28 November 1921.
He married María Luz Vicuña Correa in Santiago in 1928. She was the daughter of farmer César Vicuña y Correa de Saa, who had served as a municipal councillor of Graneros, and Eugenia Correa de Saa y Larraín. The couple had one son.
Political career Goytía began his professional career in 1921, joining the Directorate General of Public Works (DGOP) of the Ministry of Industry, Public Works and Railways as a civil servant, remaining there until 1925. From that year until 1927, he worked at the Higher Railway Inspectorate of the State Railway Company (EFE), after which he became a technical adviser to the Directorate General of Internal Revenue, an agency under the Ministry of Finance. He also worked as a professor at the School of Engineering, where he taught graphic statics.
A member of the Conservative Party, Goytía was appointed deputy director-general of the Directorate General of Internal Revenue in December 1932, during the second administration of liberal President Arturo Alessandri. He remained in that position until 25 October 1937, when he was appointed Minister of Lands and Colonization, succeeding Alejandro Errázuriz Mackenna, who resigned to devote himself fully to his position as manager of the Club Hípico de Santiago. He left the ministry on 15 September 1938, three months before the end of Alessandri's administration, and was succeeded by lawyer César León Entralá. During his tenure, from 20 January to 1 March 1938, he was temporarily replaced by Minister of National Defence Emilio Bello Codesido. He subsequently returned to his position as deputy director of the tax agency.
Later, during the administration of Radical President Gabriel González Videla, Goytía was appointed head of the Income Tax Department of the Directorate General of Internal Revenue in 1946. He held the position until 1948, when he became executive vice-president of the Foreign Trade Council, a post he left in 1949. He also served as a director of the state-owned Empresa Nacional de Electricidad (Endesa) and was a member of the International Exchange Commission. In the private sector, he served as a director of Ingelsac S.A., Said Hnos. and Cobre Cerrillo S.A.
Among his other activities, Goytía was a member of the Institute of Engineers of Chile, the Club de la Unión, the Automobile Club of Chile and the Los Leones Golf Club. He was decorated by the government of China with the Order of Jade at the rank of Commander, and by the government of France with the Legion of Honour.
Goytía died in Santiago on 20 February 1979, his 82nd birthday.
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