Javier Castro Oliveira (1883 – 1958) was a Chilean physician, surgeon, and politician who served as a minister of state during the second administration of President Arturo Alessandri.
Early life and education Castro was born in the Chilean commune of San Felipe in 1883, the son of Viterbo Castro and Rosa Oliveira. He received his primary and secondary education at the Liceo de San Felipe. He subsequently studied at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Chile, graduating as a physician and surgeon in 1909 with the thesis Del origen intestinal de la tuberculosis pulmonar ("On the intestinal origin of pulmonary tuberculosis").
He married Elena Oliveira, with whom he had two children.
Political career Castro began his professional career in 1915, serving as head of the otorhinolaryngology clinic and as an extraordinary professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Chile. He was later appointed dean of the faculty. From 15 January to 15 May 1929, he served as acting rector of the University of Chile, in his capacity as the university's most senior dean.
A member of the Liberal Party (PL), Castro was appointed Minister of Public Health on 4 October 1932, during the vice presidency of Abraham Oyanedel Urrutia, and held the post until 24 December of that year. During the second administration of President Arturo Alessandri, he again held the position from 26 August 1935 to 20 February 1936. On the latter date, a decree renamed the government department the "Ministry of Public Health, Welfare and Social Assistance", with Castro remaining as its minister until 13 August 1936.
He subsequently served as director-general and a member of the governing council of the Directorate of Charity and Social Assistance, and as president and administrator of the Compulsory Insurance Fund. He was a member of the Medical Society of Chile, the Chilean Society of Laryngology, and the Central Board of Charity, serving as president of the latter two organizations. He died in Santiago in 1958.
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