Joaquín Yrarrázabal Larraín

Joaquín Yrarrázaval Larraín (24 November 1886 – 23 May 1947) was a Chilean lawyer, agricultural landowner and politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as a deputy and later as a senator of the Republic.

Biography He was born in Santiago on 24 November 1886, the son of José Miguel Yrarrázaval Larraín and Ana Larraín Prieto. On 16 June 1912, he married Ana Donoso Fóster at the Chapel of the French Fathers in Santiago; the couple had ten children.

Yrarrázaval studied at the Conciliar Seminary of Santiago before entering the Faculty of Law of the University of Chile, where he qualified as a lawyer on 11 May 1912. His thesis was entitled El contrato de prenda. He later continued his studies in England.

He practised law while also engaging in agricultural activities as owner of the estate San Miguel de Tango. He worked in partnership with the lawyer Manuel Fóster Recabarren, acting as legal adviser to Chilean and American companies.

He served as legal counsel to major mining enterprises and sat on the boards of several nitrate companies. Among other roles, he was a founding director and legal adviser to the Compañías de Salitre de Chile, legal adviser to the Lautaro Nitrate Company, director of the Compañía Salitrera Anglo-Chilena, director of the Sociedad Chilena de Publicaciones, director of the American Smelting Company, director of the Compañía Minera El Volcán, and director of Banco Santiago and the Corporación de Salitre y Yodo.

He was also active in a number of social and charitable organisations, including the Conservative Club “Domingo Fernández Concha”, the Sociedad Periodística Chile, the Patronato Nacional de la Infancia, the Supreme Council of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, the Arturo Yrarrázaval Correa Foundation and the Conferencia del Sagrario. He was a member of the Club de La Unión, the Club Hípico and the Club de Viña del Mar.

Political career Yrarrázaval was a member of the Conservative Party, in which he served as vice-president.

He was first elected to the National Congress as deputy for Ovalle, Combarbalá and Illapel for the 1921–1924 legislative period. During this term he served as a substitute member of the Standing Committee on Finance and as a member of the Standing Committees on Budgets and Internal Police.

He was re-elected deputy for the same constituency for the 1924–1927 legislative period, serving on the Standing Committees on Foreign Affairs and Worship and on Finance. The National Congress was dissolved on 11 September 1924 by decree of the governing military junta.

He was later appointed to the constituent commission designated by President Arturo Alessandri to examine proposals for constitutional reform that led to the 1925 Constitution of Chile. The commission held few sessions and he was not included in the subcommission where the principal discussions took place; consequently, he did not play a direct role in drafting the constitution.

He was elected senator for the 2nd Provincial Grouping for the 1926–1934 constitutional period. During his tenure he served as substitute member of the Standing Committees on Finance, Commerce and Municipal Loans, and on Hygiene and Public Assistance, and as member and later chairman of the Standing Committee on Labour and Social Welfare.

The 1932 socialist coup d'état led to the dissolution of the National Congress on 6 June 1932.

During his time in the Senate he chaired the commission responsible for drafting a new Mining Code and defended the bill during its discussion in the Senate. He also presided over the joint committee of senators and deputies that reported on the project.

He died in Santiago on 23 May 1947.