Desiderio Arenas Aguiar

Desiderio Segundo Arenas Aguiar (9 April 1912 – 19 February 1991) was a Chilean pharmaceutical chemist and politician. He served as Deputy for the 7th Departamental Group (Santiago) during the 1949–1953 legislative period.

Biography He studied at the Liceo Eduardo de la Barra in Valparaíso and later at the Faculty of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences of the University of Chile, graduating as a pharmaceutical chemist in 1936 with the thesis “Breve estudio sobre la legislación farmacéutica y en especial sobre el artículo 222 del Código Sanitario”. He served as teaching assistant in courses of Bacteriology and Hygiene, Pharmacy, Chemistry, and Analytical Chemistry.

He married Lucy Charlín Díaz in 1949; they had one child.

From 1937 onwards, he worked in the Drug Price Control Department of the Ministry of Health, holding positions such as second-class pharmaceutical inspector, first-class inspector, technical advisor, provincial chief, general inspector, and department head. He served as councillor of the Social Security Service and director of Laboratorio Chile. He was also a member of the Chilean College of Pharmacists, serving as director in 1950.

Political career Arenas Aguiar was a member of the Radical Party, serving as provincial president of the Radical Youth, president of the 1941 National Convention, and treasurer of the Central Radical Board. Alongside Domingo and Julio Durán, he co-authored the anthem of the Radical Youth in 1941.

He was elected Deputy for the 7th Departamental Group (“Santiago”, First District) for the 1949–1953 term. He served as replacement member on the Standing Committees on Public Education, Finance, and Agriculture and Colonization, and was a full member of the Committee on Medical-Social Assistance and Hygiene.

Freemasonry He was initiated in the lodge “Deber y Constancia No. 7” of Santiago, where he became Venerable Master. In 1980 he was elected Grand First Warden of the Grand Lodge of Chile, and between 1984 and 1989 he served as Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council of the 33rd Degree for Chile.