Arturo Lyon

Arturo Lyon Peña (1880 – ?) was a Chilean lawyer, agriculturist, diplomat and politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as deputy and later as senator of the Republic.

Biography He was born in Paris, France, in 1880, the son of Arturo Lyon Santa María and Ana Peña Warnes. He married María Luisa Edwards Mac-Clure, and they had four children.

He completed his secondary education and legal studies in Paris, where he spent much of his youth. He qualified as a lawyer in 1900.

Lyon later devoted himself to agricultural activities on his estate Quilpué, located in San Felipe in the Aconcagua Valley, where he cultivated fruit, wheat, barley and hemp. He was also active in politics and diplomacy.

Political career He joined the Conservative Party and served as its president for several years beginning in 1923. He was re-elected to the position on 12 June 1925 and again in 1927 and 1929.

He was elected councillor of Santiago in 1909 and again in 1913, collaborating with the administration of mayor Francisco Valdés Vergara.

He entered the National Congress as deputy for La Victoria and Melipilla for the 1906–1909 legislative period. During this term he served as a substitute member of the Standing Committees on Government and Colonisation, Finance, and War and Navy, and as a member of the Standing Committee on Welfare and Worship.

He was elected senator for Aconcagua for the 1921–1927 period. During this term he served as vice-president of the Senate from 26 March 1924 until September of that year. He was a substitute member of the Standing Committees on Government and Elections and on Foreign Affairs and Worship, and a member of the Standing Committees on Agriculture, Industry and Railways and on Legislation and Justice.

The National Congress was dissolved on 11 September 1924 by decree of the governing military junta.

He was again elected senator for the 3rd Provincial Grouping for the 1926–1934 period. During this term, he served on the Standing Committee on Army and Navy and on the Standing Committee on Agriculture, Mining, Industrial Development and Colonisation, which he chaired.

The 1932 socialist coup d'état led to the dissolution of the National Congress on 6 June 1932.

During his time in the Senate, he promoted the so-called “Ley Lyon” following the Copiapó earthquake, proposing legislation for the reconstruction of the city. He also supported legislation concerning the channeling of rivers and a graduated tax on Argentine cattle imports.

Later activities Lyon was a member of the Club de La Unión and the Club de Viña del Mar. He served as president of the Club Hípico and as president of the Empresa Periodística del Diario Ilustrado. He was also a member of the Sociedad de Fomento Fabril (SOFOFA), president of the Caja de Colonización Agrícola in 1935, and director of Banco Edwards.

He received several decorations, including the Order of the Crown of Prussia, the Order of the Crown of Italy and the Busto del Libertador.