Nicanor Allende

Nicanor Allende Urrutia (16 July 1923 – 10 February 2004) was a Chilean merchant and politician affiliated successively with the Liberal Party, the National Party and finally National Renewal.

He served as mayor of Valdivia (1950–1953) and as deputy of the Republic between 1957 and 1965.

Biography He was born in Concepción on 16 July 1923, the son of Nicanor Allende Navarro and Pilar Urrutia Manzano.

In 1946 he married María Inés Haverbeck Bischoff, daughter of businessman and politician Carlos Haverbeck and Inés Bischoff von Stillfred. The couple had three children: Inés del Pilar, Carlos Nicanor and Loreto Beatriz. On 23 April 1973, his wife and son died in a traffic accident in Zapala, Argentina.

Educated at the German Institute and the Instituto de Humanidades Luis Campino of Santiago, he dedicated himself to commercial activities after finishing secondary school. He worked at the Consorcio Comercial Chileno-Peruano (1940–1946), then moved to Valdivia where he worked in forestry and commerce, representing the Comercial Sueco-Chilena and the Sociedad Técnica Errázuriz y Cía. Consorcio Mercantil.

He was director of the Sociedad Agrícola Ganadera de Valdivia (Saval) and of the Sociedad Allipén, managing both estates. He was also a delegate and later vice-president of the board of the Compañía Naviera Haverbeck y Skalweit S.A. (1953). In addition, he directed the Compañía Portuaria Talcahuano and joined the Consejo Directivo de la Sociedad de Progreso Urbano de Valdivia. He represented Valdivia as honorary consul in Uruguay (1955).

Political career A member of the Liberal Party, he was elected regidor of Valdivia (1950–1953).

In 1957 he was elected deputy for Valdivia, La Unión and Río Bueno (1957–1961), serving on the Permanent Commission on Agriculture and Colonization. He was re-elected for the 1961–1965 term, this time joining the Permanent Commission on Labor and Social Legislation.

On 10 June 1963 he was appointed Secretary General of the Frente Democrático de Chile, a coalition of Conservatives, Liberals and Radicals that supported the presidential candidacy of Julio Durán in the 1964 Chilean presidential election. He later became one of the founders of the National Party in 1966, remaining until 1987, when he was among the founding members of National Renewal.