Jorge Meléndez Escobar

Jorge Meléndez Escobar (6 March 1896 – 19 March 1984) was a Chilean politician, illustrator and caricaturist.

He served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies between 1949 and 1957.

Biography He was the son of José Luis Meléndez and Ercilia Escobar Campaña. He married Ana Acevedo Davenport Hinojosa on 30 December 1938 in Santiago; the couple had no children.

Meléndez studied at the Liceo de Aplicación and trained at the Instituto Superior de Comercio. He completed courses in political economy and advertising at the University of Chile, as well as private instruction in drawing and painting, and industrial drawing at the schools of the Sociedad de Fomento Fabril (SOFOFA).

From 1914 to 1916, he taught in the "Manuel Rodríguez" Night Schools for Workers and at the Liceo de Aplicación. He worked for the Caja Nacional de Ahorros (later the Banco del Estado de Chile), serving as head of the Press and Propaganda Department from 1915 to 1949. He was an early contributor to the newspaper La Nación, and a caricaturist for Zig-Zag and El Corre-Vuela. He directed the humor magazine El Picarón and collaborated with El Imparcial, El Mercurio, among others. Exhibitions of his work were held in 1913 and 1921.

He authored several books, including Educación de la Juventud. Protección de los animales (1919), awarded in a 1917 public contest and later adopted as an auxiliary school text; Ahorro y caridad (1932); and Siembra y cosecharás amor (1981). His work La cartilla del ahorro received special recognition at the First Savings Conference in 1915.

Political career Meléndez was a member of the Independent Party. In 1949, he founded the Movimiento Independiente and the Acción Renovadora de Chile.

He was elected deputy for the 7th Departamental Group of Santiago, 1st District, serving in the periods 1949–1953 and 1953–1957. During his first term, he served on the committees of National Defense and Public Education. In his second term, he sat on the committees of Foreign Affairs and Internal Police and Regulations.

Participation in institutions Meléndez held prominent roles in numerous civic, cultural and philanthropic organizations. He was founder and president of the Bando de Piedad de Chile (1919–1950) and of the Casa del Estudiante Americano (from 1950). He was honorary president of the Sociedad Protectora de Animales "Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna" (1916–1978), and of the Instituto Chileno Brasilero de Cultura (1959–1979).

He served as honorary counsellor of the Sociedad de Instrucción Primaria from 1923 onward, and was an honorary member of the Chilean Red Cross.

He participated in numerous mutual societies and workers' associations, including: the Sociedad de Artesanos La Unión, Sociedad Figueroa Alcorta, Sociedad Fermín Vivaceta, Sociedad Juan Miguel Dávila Baeza, Sociedad Unión de Peluqueros, Sociedad Unión de Tipógrafos, Sociedad Igualdad y Trabajo, Sociedad Empleados de Comercio, Círculo de Jubilados de la Prensa, Sociedad Estrella Chilena de Señoras, Gremio del Abasto, Sociedad La Unión Nacional, Asociación Luis A. Soto, Mutual Población Polígono, Sociedad Protección de la Mujer, and others.

He was honorary rector of Saint Rose School, director of the Junta de Beneficencia Escolar, and held honorary titles in multiple civic entities. He was named an honorary citizen of San Antonio, Texas (United States), a distinguished member of the Sociedad Científica de Chile (1956), and received various decorations including:

Order of the Cóndor de los Andes (Bolivia) Order José Gabriel Duque (Panama) Order Do Cruzeiro do Sul (Brazil, 1970) Medal of the Sociedad Bolivariana de Venezuela Public Service Medal of the Municipality of Santiago (1976)