Blas Bellolio

Blas Bellolio Zappettini (Concepción, 14 January 1911 – Santiago, 11 October 2003) was a Chilean surgeon and politician of Italian descent. He served as senator for the provinces of Ñuble, Concepción and Arauco between 1953 and 1961.

Biography Family and early life He was born in Concepción on 14 January 1911, the son of Juan Bellolio Zappettini, an Italian merchant immigrant, and Juana Zappettini Maquiavello. He studied at the Sacred Hearts School of Concepción, later entering the University of Concepción Medical School and completing studies at the University of Chile, where he earned his medical degree in 1936 and specialized in cardiology.

He married Eliana Rodríguez Gertner on 30 August 1947; the couple had six children.

Medical and academic career Bellolio practiced medicine and taught at the University of Concepción as assistant professor of medicine. He was among the founders of the Chilean Society of Cardiology. His professional work focused on public health and the development of cardiology as a specialty in Chile.

Political career He joined the Agrarian Labor Party (PAL) in 1945 and later the National Popular Party (PANAPO) in 1959. He was elected senator for the 7th Provincial Group (Ñuble, Concepción and Arauco) for the 1953–1961 term.

In the Senate he served as an alternate member of the Permanent Commissions on Constitution, Legislation and Justice and on Labor and Social Welfare; and as a member of the Commissions on Foreign Relations and Public Health. In 1960 he took part in the Joint Budget Commission and integrated the parliamentary committees of PAL and later PANAPO.

Among the motions he sponsored or co-sponsored that became law were initiatives related to public health facilities in Concepción and Chillán (Law No. 12,944 of 1958), support for the Chilean Medical Association (Law No. 11,286 of 1953), authorization of a benefit lottery for the Votive Temple of Maipú (Law No. 12,877 of 1958), and a monument to Claudio Matte Pérez in Santiago (Law No. 14,605 of 1961).

He supported Chile’s position on the extension of the 200-nautical-mile maritime zone, and advocated improvements for coal miners and education in his region. Public health, nutrition, forestry and agriculture were central to his parliamentary work.

He represented Chile at the Eleventh Session of the United Nations General Assembly, participating in work on international law matters, and in 1960 joined the Pan-American Regional Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

Later years After his Senate term ended in 1961, Bellolio resumed medical practice. He later supported the presidential candidacy of Eduardo Frei Montalva (1964) and the parliamentary candidacy of Javier Lira Merino (1965). He died in Santiago on 11 October 2003 at the age of 92.