Manuel Eduardo Hübner

Manuel Eduardo Hübner Richardson (24 January 1905 – 23 February 1988) was a Chilean writer, diplomat, journalist and politician who served as deputy of the Republic.

Biography Hübner Richardson was born in Valparaíso, Chile, on 24 January 1905. He was the son of Ernesto A. Hübner and Olivia Richardson de la Barra.

He studied at secondary schools in Viña del Mar and Valparaíso and later pursued higher education at the University of Chile.

He married Vicha Vidal Oltra in Santiago on 25 September 1926, with whom he had four children.

Professional career Hübner Richardson worked as a journalist and writer. Between 1925 and 1931, he collaborated as reporter, editor, secretary of the editorial office, and foreign correspondent in Argentina and Peru for publications such as La Nación, Los Tiempos, and Zig-Zag. He later served as editor-in-chief of Crónica (1931–1932) and of the magazine Wikén (1933–1934).

He was correspondent in Chile for Argentine newspapers including El Mundo, Caras y Caretas and La Razón. He frequently used the pseudonym Juan Babel and became known for his political interviews, including conversations with U.S. president Herbert Hoover, Argentine president Hipólito Yrigoyen, and Peruvian president Augusto B. Leguía.

He was founder of the socialist magazine Consigna in 1935 and served as head of propaganda of the Caja de Crédito Popular. In 1954, he was appointed director of the State Information Directorate (Dirección de Informaciones del Estado).

He also worked as professor of sociology and was named honorary professor of the War Academy (Academia de Guerra). He participated in preparations for the arrival of the first Chilean ambassador to Lima following the Treaty of Tacna.

Diplomatic career Hübner Richardson served as consul general of Chile in Los Angeles, Cuba (1942) and Australia (1944–1947). In Cuba and Australia, he also acted as chargé d'affaires. He represented Chile at the World's Fair in New York in 1939 and was delegate to the Congress of Democracies in Montevideo and later rapporteur at the same congress held in Santiago.

He traveled to Mexico as guest of President Lázaro Cárdenas, to Havana invited by the Instituto Hispano-Cubano de Cultura, and to New York by invitation of Columbia University.

Political career Hübner Richardson was a founding member of the Socialist Party of Chile in 1933 and served as secretary of Press and Publicity and of Culture for the party's regional committee.

He was elected deputy for the Fourth Departmental Grouping (La Serena, Coquimbo, Elqui, Ovalle and Illapel) for the 1937–1941 legislative period. During his term, he served on the Standing Committee on Foreign Relations and acted as substitute member of the Standing Committees on National Defense and on Labor and Social Legislation.

He later ran as candidate for the Senate for Talca in 1941.

Other activities and distinctions He was a member of the Society of Chilean Writers, the PEN Club, the Journalists’ Institute of Santiago, and the Alliance of Intellectuals.

He was awarded the Order of the Sun of Peru and the Cuban National Order of Merit Carlos Manuel de Céspedes.