Eliseo Peña

José Eliseo Peña Villalón (born 14 June 1869) was a Chilean teacher and politician affiliated with the Radical Socialist Party. He served as deputy during the 1926–1930 legislative period and held ministerial office during the Socialist Republic of 1932.

Biography He was born on 14 June 1869 in Ovalle, Chile, the son of Manuel Peña and Francisca Villalón. He married Laura Abos-Padilla.

He studied at the Liceo and Seminary of La Serena and later entered the Pedagogical Institute of the University of Chile, qualifying as Professor of History and Geography in 1895.

He served as teacher, vice-rector and rector of the Liceo of La Serena, and founded and presided over the Provincial Education Association of Coquimbo.

He authored Programa de Historia y Geografía and Antigüedades Coquimbanas. He was also a shareholder and director of several mining companies.

He founded the Centro Provincial Sport Coquimbo and served as founder and president of the Boy Scouts of La Serena. He was a member of the Sociedad Científica del Puerto de Cádiz (Spain), the Sociedad Científica de Chile, and the Asociación General de Profesores de Chile.

Political career He was a member of the Radical Socialist Party, serving as its organizer and first president in 1931, the year of its foundation.

He was elected deputy for the 4th Departamental Circumscription (La Serena, Coquimbo, Elqui, Ovalle, Combarbalá and Illapel) for the 1926–1930 period. He served as substitute member on the Permanent Commissions of Foreign Affairs and of Public Education.

In 1932 he was part of one of the governing juntas of the Socialist Republic, together with Carlos Dávila Espinoza and Pedro Cárdenas Avendaño, which functioned from 30 June to 8 July 1932.

During the provisional presidency of Carlos Dávila Espinoza, he was appointed Minister of Lands and Colonization (8 July – 1 August 1932) and concurrently served as Minister of the Interior (13 July – 1 August 1932).