Juan Bautista Chesta

Juan Bautista Chesta Pastoureaud (9 September 1899 – 25 March 1948) was a Chilean industrialist, agricultural entrepreneur and parliamentarian.

Biography Chesta Pastoureaud was born in Lautaro, Chile, on 9 September 1899. He was the son of Pedro Chesta and Felícitas Pastoureaud.

He studied in Pitrufquén, at the Instituto San José of Temuco, and later at the Institut San Saturnin of Toulouse, France. He returned to Chile in 1916 and settled in Pitrufquén, where he devoted himself to industrial and agricultural activities.

He operated several estates, including Tiltil (livestock fattening and crop farming, particularly potatoes), Boroa (livestock breeding), and the estates Maillai and Santa Adela in San José de la Mariquina. He was also the owner of the Pitrufquén Power Plant and the Pitrufquén Mill.

He married María Fresia Peigna Morales, with whom he had six children.

Political career Chesta Pastoureaud was a founder of the Agrarian Party in 1924 in Valdivia, and later served as President of the party’s Assembly in Pitrufquén in 1931. In 1945, he joined the Agrarian Labor Party and became a member of its Governing Board.

He was elected Deputy for the 21st Departmental Group —Temuco, Lautaro, Imperial, Villarrica and Pitrufquén— for the 1945–1949 term. During his parliamentary service, he served on the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Colonization, which he also presided.

He died in office in Santiago on 25 March 1948, before completing his parliamentary term.

Other activities Chesta Pastoureaud was a member of the Committee for the Development of Cautín and Pitrufquén, a member of the Sociedad Agrícola Toltén, Superintendent and Vice Superintendent of the Pitrufquén Fire Brigade in 1946, a member of the Red Cross, and Director of the Social Club of Pitrufquén. He also participated in numerous social, charitable and sporting institutions.