Enrique Ortúzar

Enrique Cornelio Ortúzar Escobar (7 November 1914 – 26 February 2005) was a Chilean lawyer, academic and politician. He served as a minister of State during the government of President Jorge Alessandri Rodríguez (1958–1964).

A leading conservative thinker, he was chosen by General Augusto Pinochet to lead the process that produced the constitutional text that has governed the country since 1980. His brother Ramón was a physician and surgeon.

He completed his primary and secondary education at the Instituto Andrés Bello, He served as Secretary General of Government until the end of the administration on November 3, 1964; he remained Minister of the Interior until January 19, 1959, when he resigned citing health reasons. He returned to the Interior portfolio on a provisional basis between April 28 and May 2, 1960, and again between November 6 and 10 of the same year, acting for the incumbent Sótero del Río. serving in that post until December 17 of the same year. In that role, he expressed his conservative outlook, advocating a particular view of democracy protected against dangers that the Chilean right attributed to Marxism, and reviving reforms that had not been adopted during the Alessandri government, such as the integration of the Senate by members not elected by popular vote.

He also served on the Council of State established in 1976 to review the work of the Ortúzar Commission. In that capacity, on October 18, 1978, he delivered to the governing junta the draft of a new constitution. His role in the institutional design embodied in the 1980 Constitution was therefore significant. Regarding his work on drafting the 1980 Constitution, he stated:

From 1982, and for a period of eight years, he was a minister (justice) of the Constitutional Court of Chile (TC) established by the 1980 Constitution, tasked with ensuring its correct application.

Among other activities, he was a member of the Club de La Unión and the Club de Polo. He died in Santiago on February 26, 2005, aged 90.