Miguel Letelier Espínola

Miguel Letelier Espínola (15 May 1883 – 8 November 1965) was a Chilean civil engineer, farmer, businessman and politician who served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile and held ministerial office.

Born in Santiago, he was the son of former deputy and senator José Letelier Sierra and Edelmira Espínola Mardones. He studied humanities at Colegio San Ignacio before travelling to Belgium, where he studied engineering at the Catholic University of Leuven, graduating in 1905. After returning to Chile, he taught structural engineering at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and the University of Chile, and founded the Laboratory for Materials Testing and the Institute of Technological Research at the former institution.

Initially a member of the National Party, of which he served as president, Letelier later promoted its merger with the Liberal Party and subsequently joined the latter. He represented Rancagua, Cachapoal and Maipo in the Chamber of Deputies during the 1915–1918 legislative period and served on the Permanent Commission of Industry and Agriculture.

Under President Arturo Alessandri, Letelier served as Minister of Industries, Public Works and Railways from 1 April to 21 December 1922. During the government of Carlos Ibáñez del Campo, he briefly served as Minister of the Interior from 22 to 23 July 1931.

Letelier also held senior academic and business positions. He later served as dean of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Chile and as dean of the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile from 1941 to 1955. He was president of the Compañía Siderúrgica de Valdivia and of the Sociedad Nacional de Agricultura, and was involved in the development of Chile's iron and steel industry.

He died in Santiago on 8 November 1965.