Virgilio Jesús Morales Vivanco

Virgilio Jesús Morales Vivanco (2 October 1876 – 5 August 1963) was a Chilean lawyer and politician affiliated with the Democratic Party. He served as Deputy, Senator, and twice as Minister of Lands and Colonization during the short-lived Socialist Republic of Chile in 1932.

Biography Family and education Virgilio Jesús Morales Vivanco was born on 2 October 1876 in Lebu, Chile to Pedro María Morales and María Antonia Vivanco. Morales studied in Cañete, at the Liceo de Hombres de Concepción and the Concepción Seminary, before graduating in law from the University of Chile.

He was sworn in as a lawyer before the Supreme Court of Chile on 9 March 1899, presenting the thesis «Estudio sobre la capacidad civil de la mujer». He married Emilia Mardones Peña on 4 July 1939; they had two children, Virgilio and Silvia.

Professional career Morales practiced law in Cañete until 1960, later settling in Santiago. He also worked in agriculture and mining, owning gold deposits in Arauco and Curacautín.

He served five years as public prosecutor of Cañete (1906–1911) and was later removed from office by decree No. 401 of 29 March 1922 under President Arturo Alessandri Palma.

Political career A member of the Democratic Party, he later led its democratic faction, serving as party president in 1929. He was elected Deputy for the 18th Departmental District (Lebu, Arauco and Cañete) for the 1926–1930 term, sitting on the Committees on Internal Government and Agriculture and Colonization.

In 1932 he was appointed Minister of Lands and Colonization by the Socialist Republic of Chile under Carlos Dávila Espinoza (from 16 June to 8 July) and again under the provisional government of Bartolomé Blanche Espejo (from 14 September to 3 October).

Elected Senator for the 8th Provincial Group (Biobío and Cautín) for 1933–1941 on the Unión Socialista ticket, he served on the Committees on Constitution, Legislation and Justice and on Internal Police. He was re-elected Senator for the 18th Departmental Group (Lebu, Arauco and Cañete) for the 1953–1957 term, serving on the same committees.

Other activities He was a frequent columnist for El Sur of Concepción and El Mercurio of Santiago, writing on politics and social issues.

Author of Arauco Legendario y Origen de los Pueblos Precolombinos de América and of the Ley sobre Constitución de la Propiedad Austral, he also translated Mapuche legends and conducted archaeological research in the Valle de Elicura, discovering inscribed stones now held at the Cañete Museum.

He founded the first Youth Sports Center of Cañete.

He died of a heart attack in Peñaflor on 5 August 1963, aged 86.