Octavio Señoret

Octavio Señoret Silva (28 March 1891 – 11 March 1941) was a Chilean lawyer, politician and diplomat. A prominent member and president of the Radical Party, he served as a deputy, senator, vice president of the Senate, and later as ambassador of Chile to the United Kingdom.

Biography Señoret Silva was born in Le Havre, France, to Manuel Señoret Astaburuaga and María Mercedes Silva Silva. He married Sibila Guevara Reimers, with whom he had five children. In a second marriage, he married Carmen Vial Freire, with whom he had no children.

He studied at the Liceo de Valparaíso and the Liceo de Talca before pursuing legal studies at the Course of Laws of the French Fathers’ College in Valparaíso. He qualified as a lawyer on 25 April 1913. He practiced law in both Valparaíso and Santiago.

Political career Señoret Silva militated in the Radical Party, eventually serving as its president.

Between 1909 and 1910, he served as secretary of the Municipality of Viña del Mar. In 1915, he acted as an elector in the presidential election. He was appointed Intendant of Valparaíso on 31 July 1931, a position he held until 12 July 1932.

He was elected deputy for Valparaíso and Casablanca for the legislative period 1918–1921, serving on the Permanent Commission on War and Navy.

In 1933, he returned to Congress as senator for the Third Provincial District of Aconcagua, serving from 1933 to 1937. This four-year term resulted from the institutional adjustment following the revolutionary events of June 1932. During his senatorial service, he was appointed vice president of the Senate from 23 to 31 May 1933. He presided over the Permanent Commission on Army and Navy and was a member of the Permanent Commission on Foreign Relations. He also served as substitute senator on the Permanent Commissions on Public Education, Finance and Municipal Loans, and Labour and Social Welfare.

Other activities Señoret Silva was professor of Public Finance at the Course of Laws of Valparaíso in 1923. In 1933, he served as Chilean delegate to the Pan-American Conference in Montevideo. He was appointed ambassador of Chile to the United Kingdom from 1939 to 1941.

He also served as president of the Provincial Committee of Valparaíso, member of the Board of Charity, deputy director of Public Assistance, and member of the Valparaíso Neighbourhood Council. He was vice president of the Unión Ítalo-Chilena Insurance Company and a member of the Club de La Unión.

He died in Lisbon, Portugal, on 11 March 1941, while serving abroad.