Enrique van Rysselberghe

Enrique van Rysselberghe Martínez (22 August 1911 – 30 May 1984) was a Chilean architect and politician, who was mayor of Concepción twice in the 1970s.

Biography Family He was born into a family whose origins go back to the engineer Max van Rysselberghe, son of François van Rysselberghe, a Belgian citizen. At the end of the 19th century, and less than 20 years old, Max participated in an expedition from Belgium to Antarctica, the Belgian Antarctic Expedition, which was originally supposed to last six months, but ended up lasting two years. They had four children: Lidia, Ivonne, Enrique and Daniel.

Political career In 1967 he was elected alderman as an independent for the commune of Concepción and, as he held the position of first alderman, he had to replace the then mayor Guillermo Aste Pérez on several occasions when he had to be absent from the city.

After the coup led by General Augusto Pinochet that overthrew the government of Salvador Allende in 1973, the military dictatorship appointed him mayor of Concepción, a position he held until 1979. He is remembered for his good management.