List of Chileans explained
This is a list of Chileans who are famous or notable.
Economists
Military
Musicians
- Los Abandoned – alternative rock band
- Américo – cumbia chilena singer
- Tom Araya – singer/bassist for thrash metal band Slayer
- Daniela Aleuy - singer and songwriter
- Claudio Arrau – classical piano player
- Germán Casas – 1960s singer
- Beto Cuevas – lead singer from rock group La Ley
- Luis 'Lucho' Gatica – bolero singer
- Eduardo Gatti – a leading composer of modern Chilean music
- Jorge González – controversial lead singer and songwriter of historic Chilean rock band Los Prisioneros
- Rodrigo González – bassist and singer of the German band die Ärzte
- Alberto Guerrero – Chilean–Canadian composer, pianist, and teacher
- Myriam Hernández – popular music singer
- Alicia Ika – native Rapa Nui actress, musician, songwriter, surf instructor and tourist agent. Star in (2010).
- Pascuala Ilabaca – singer-songwriter
- Inti-Illimani – pioneers of the nueva canción chilena movement; known communists and "pro-democracy" activists in exile during Pinochet dictatorship
- Víctor Jara – Chilean folk singer and theatrical director; political activist; communist
- Alain Johannes – Chilean born musician, songwriter, sound engineer; best known as founding member of Alternative Rock American band Eleven
- Rafael Manríquez – nueva canción musician
- Camila Gallardo
- Paloma Mami
- DJ Méndez – urban music producer
- La Noche – cumbia chilena band
- Chañaral Ortega-Miranda – contemporary composer
- Ángel Parra – folk musician (nueva canción); son of Violeta Parra
- Isabel Parra – folk musician; daughter of Violeta Parra
- Javiera Parra – lead singer from group Javiera y los Imposibles
- Violeta Parra – Chilean folk singer
- Antonio Prieto – singer and actor known in English for "The Bride" or "The Wedding" song
- Quilapayún – nueva canción ensemble, supporters of Popular Unity (UP) coalition during presidency of Salvador Allende
- Leo Rey – cumbia chilena singer
- Alejandro Silva – heavy metal guitar player
- Saiko – pop rock band
- Clara Solovera (1909–1992) – songwriter, born in Santiago
- Esther Soré (1915–1996) – 1940s singer, born in Santiago
- Fernando Ubiergo – folk singer-songwriter (Chilean folk), born in Valparaíso
- Francisca Valenzuela – singer-songwriter
- Ricardo Villalobos – minimal techno artist
- Verónica Villarroel – soprano
- Ramón Vinay – tenor
- Javiera Mena – Indie electropop musician
- Mon Laferte – singer-songwriter
- Luis "Checho" González – folklore composer, born in Iquique
- Oscar Lopez - senior latin guitarists musician, born in Santiago
- El Monteaguilino – Cueca composer, born in Monte Águila
Artists
See main article: List of Chilean artists.
See also: List of Chilean women artists.
Politicians
- Juana Rosa Aguirre – former first lady, wife of Pedro Aguirre Cerda
- Arturo Alessandri – served twice as president of Chile
- Jorge Alessandri – 27th President of Chile; President of Council of State under Pinochet Regime
- Salvador Allende – former senator and president of Chile; ousted in a military coup
- Clodomiro Almeyda – socialist politician
- Soledad Alvear – former Justice minister and Foreign minister; current PDC senator
- Celinda Arregui – feminist politician, writer, teacher, suffrage activist
- Gabriel Boric - first youth leader politician of Chile
- Michelle Bachelet – first woman president of Chile
- Juan Chandía – governor of for 1946–1952
- Carlos Dávila – former Secretary General of the Organization of American States
- Florencio Durán – former president of the senate
- Héctor Faúndez – diplomat
- Fernando Flores – businessman and former senator
- Gabriel González Videla – 25th President of Chile (1946-1952)
- Jaime Guzmán – right wing politician during the Pinochet regime; murdered by Manuel Rodríguez Patriotic Front on April 1, 1991; former UDI Senator
- Tomás Hirsch – former president of the Humanist Party of Chile; 2005 candidate for president
- Antonia Illanes – lawyer and politician
- José Miguel Insulza – former Interior minister; current Secretary General of the Organization of American States
- José Antonio Kast — president of the Republican Party, former deputy and councilman, presidential candidate in 2017 and in 2021.
- Carlos Keller – former Leader of the National Socialist Movement of Chile, responsible for the organization of the Seguro Obrero Massacre
- Joaquín Lavín – Independent Democratic Union candidate for presidency in 2005 election; former mayor of Las Condes and Santiago
- Orlando Letelier – Foreign Minister during Salvador Allende's government murdered during the Pinochet regime in Washington, D.C.
- Gladys Marín – communist leader, feminist activist, lived in exile, opposed conservatism and liberal economy, admirer of Lenin and Marx
- Raúl Morales Beltramí – politician and physician
- Sebastián Piñera – Chilean billionaire, businessman and politician; former President of Chile
- Aníbal Pinto – 9th President of Chile (1876-1881)
- Augusto Pinochet – Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Chile, President of the Government Junta of Chile, dictator from 1973 until 1990 and President from 1981 onwards.
- Diego Portales – Minister, major designer of the Chilean State during the first half of the 19th century
- Juan Antonio Ríos (1888–1946) – Chilean lawyer, political figure and 24th President of Chile
- Laura Rodríguez – first Humanist Party deputy in the world
- Camila Vallejo – Member of Parliament, led 2011 student protests in Chile
- Adolfo Zaldívar – PRI senator, former leader of the PDC
- Andrés Zaldívar – former PDC senator
- Herminia Colihueque, Mapuche first woman to run in an election for a political office
Religious figures
Sports
- Omar Aguilar – long-distance runner
- Marlene Ahrens – javelin thrower; Olympic silver medalist
- Fernando Alvarez – jockey
- David Arellano – football player; namesake of Colo-Colo's stadium
- Luis Ayala – tennis player; twice French Open finalist
- Gonzalo Barrios – eSports player
- Claudio Bravo – football player, FC Barcelona
- Ben Brereton – football player
- Nick Carle – football player, Sydney FC
- Patricio Castañeda – football player
- Carlos Caszely – football player
- Patricio Cornejo – tennis player, 1976 Davis Cup finalist
- Cristian Garín – tennis player, winner of 4 ATP titles
- Carlo de Gavardo – KTM rally motorcyclist
- Elías Figueroa – football player; three times elected as Best Football Player of America
- Jaime Fillol – tennis player, 1976 Davis Cup finalist
- Arturo Godoy – boxer, fought Joe Louis twice for the World Heavyweight title
- Fernando González – tennis player; only Chilean to win gold, silver and bronze medals at the Summer Olympics
- Tomás González – gymnast, Olympic finalist
- Juan Halty – former professional footballer
- Kai Horwitz (born 1998) – Olympic alpine skier
- Luis Jiménez (born 1987) – footballer
- Benjamín Kuscevic – football player
- Alberto Larraguibel – horse rider, record for puissance (high jump) on horseback
- Sergio Sapo Livingstone – Chilean football goalkeeper
- Anita Lizana – tennis player; 1937 US Open champion; first Latin American, and first Hispanic person, to be ranked World Number 1 in tennis
- Nicolás Massú (born 1979) – tennis player; highest world ranking #9, Olympic 2-time champion (singles and doubles)
- Carlos Moreno – track and field sprinter
- Iván Morovic – chess International Grandmaster
- Isidora Niemeyer – rower
- Érika Olivera – marathon runner; gold medal winner in women's marathon at the 1999 Pan American Games
- Andrés Parada - footballer
- Manuel Pellegrini – former footballer for Universidad de Chile, former manager of Real Madrid
- Alejandra Ramos – middle-distance runner
- Monica Regonesi – long-distance runner
- Sammis Reyes – basketball and American football player; first Chilean to play in the NFL
- Fernando Riera – Chile's most successful soccer coach; led the national team to a third-place finish in the 1962 World Cup
- Marcelo Ríos – first Latin American man to become world number-one tennis player
- Eduardo Robledo – football player, Newcastle United F.C.
- Jorge Robledo – player, Newcastle United F.C.
- Jose Romero – AFL player, Western Bulldogs
- Sebastián Rozental (born 1976) - professional soccer player
- Bayron Saavedra (born 1997) – footballer
- Marcelo Salas – football player; holds the record for most goals playing for the national team; won titles with every team he played with
- Eliseo Salazar – race car driver, competed in Formula One intermittently from 1980–1982, moved to Champ Car and the Indy Racing League
- Alexis Sánchez – football player, Inter Milan
- Leonel Sánchez – football player, 1962 World Cup top scorer
- José A. Santos – jockey, winner of US Triple Crown
- Alejandro Silva – long-distance runner
- Pablo Squella – middle-distance runner
- José Sulantay – Chile's second most successful soccer coach, led the under 20 national team to a third-place finish at the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada
- Emilio Ulloa – long-distance runner
- Dion Valle – football player, Marconi Stallions FC
- Rodrigo Vargas – football player, Melbourne Victory FC
- Arturo Vidal – football player, FC Barcelona
- Gert Weil – shot putter
- Iván Zamorano – football player
Scientists and engineers
Film and television personalities
Writers
See also: List of Chilean women writers.
- Lorenzo Aillapán – poet
- Fernando Alegría – writer
- Isabel Allende – novelist (The House of Spirits)
- Roberto Ampuero – novelist (Cayetano Brulé series)
- Roberto Bolaño[2] – novelist (The Savage Detectives, 2666)
- Liborio Brieba – writer
- Francisco Coloane – (Tierra del fuego)
- Angel Cruchaga Santa Maria (1893–1964) – writer, won the Chilean National Prize for Literature in 1948
- Eugenio Cruz Vargas (1923–2014) – poet and painter, of Basque descent
- Francisco Núñez de Pineda y Bascuñán – writer of Cautiverio feliz y razón individual de las guerras dilatadas del Reino de Chile in 1673
- Pablo de Rokha – Chilean National Prize for Literature in 1965
- José Donoso[3] – writer (Coronation, The Obscene Bird of Night)
- Ariel Dorfman – novelist, playwright (Death and the Maiden), academic, essayist, journalist and human rights activist
- Jorge Edwards – 1999 Cervantes Prize winner
- Alberto Fuguet – novelist; short story writer, Mala Onda, Las películas de mi vida; filmmaker, Se Arrienda
- Alberto Blest Gana – novelist (Martín Rivas)
- Olga Grau - philosopher
- Juan Guzman Cruchaga (1895–1979) – poet and diplomat, won the Chilean National Prize for Literature in 1962; of Basque descent
- Óscar Hahn – writer and poet
- Vicente Huidobro – father of the "Creationism" movement in Paris
- Cristián Huneeus – writer
- Enrique Lafourcade – novelist
- Hernán Rivera Letelier – novelist (Santa María de las Flores Negras, La Reina Isabel Cantaba Rancheras), poet, writer of short stories
- Enrique Lihn – poet, playwright, and novelist
- Carmen Marai – novelist El Alba de la Mandrágora (The Dawn of the Mandrake), poet, writer of short stories
- Sergio Missana – novelist
- Gabriela Mistral – winner of the Nobel prize for literature
- Nicolasa Montt – poet
- Tomás Moulian – political scientist and sociologist
- Pablo Neruda[4] – winner of the Nobel prize for literature
- Raquel Olea – writer, professor
- Nicanor Parra – self-proclaimed "anti-poet"
- Adolfo Quiros – (1853–1910), poet
- Gonzalo Rojas – 2004 Cervantes Prize winner
- Elvira Santa Cruz Ossa – dramatist and novelist
- Luis Sepúlveda – novelist
- Antonio Skármeta – author of Ardiente Paciencia (Burning Patience), which inspired the movie Il Postino (The Postman), about poet Pablo Neruda
- Amelia Solar de Claro – poet, playwright, and essayist
- Mercedes Valdivieso – writer
- Sergio Vodanovic – playwright
Architects
Others
- Raúl Aldunate Phillips – writer, politician, and soldier[5]
- Vanessa Ceruti – Miss Universe Chile 2011
- Nataly Chilet – Miss World Chile 2008
- Claudio Grossman – chairman of the Human Rights Interamerican Court
- Hil Hernández – Miss Earth 2006
- Carlos Kaiser – former National Director of the National Fund for Disabilities
- Themo Lobos – comic artist
- Andrónico Luksic – chairman of Quiñenco Holdings, which owns Banco de Chile, Antofagasta Minerals, one of the largest Chilean financial groups
- La Quintrala – Catalina de los Ríos y Lisperguer, aristocratic and sadistic landowner and witch during the Colonial Period
- Rene Ríos Boettiger (Pepo) – comic artist (Condorito)
- Juana Ross Edwards (1830–1913) – philanthropist
- Sergio Saavedra (1927–2022) – engineer and politician
- Sola Sierra – human rights activist
- Juan Somavia – Director-General of the International Labour Organization
- Joaquín Toesca – designer of the presidential house "La Moneda", in Santiago
- Maria Jose Ubiergo – Chilean DREAMer in the United States, Story Featured in the New York Times; Family member to notable Chilean Folk Singer Fernando Ubiergo [6] Her story has been featured in El Diario, ABC, and News 12 Connecticut, among other media outlets.
- Arturo Valenzuela – former Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs
- Bernardita Zúñiga – Miss World Chile 2007
- Sergio Catalán – first to discover crash survivors of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, and integral to rescuing all 16 remaining survivors[7]
See also
Notes and References
- Book: Rosenbaum . Jonathan . Essential Cinema: On the Necessity of Film Canons . 2004 . The Johns Hopkins University Press . Baltimore and London . 0-8018-7840-3 . 419–421.
- News: The 21st Century's 12 Greatest Novels . 31 March 2021 . BBC . 19 January 2015.
- Book: Bloom . Harold . The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages . 1994 . Harcourt Brace & Company . NY/San Diego/London . 978-1-57322-514-4 . 560.
- Book: Bloom . Harold . The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages . 1994 . Harcourt Brace & Company . NY/San Diego/London . 978-1-57322-514-4 . 463–492 . Borges, Neruda, and Pessoa: Hispanic-Portuguese Whitman.
- Book: Aldunate Phillips, Raúl. 2021-03-21. 1970. es. Escuela Lito-tipográfica La Gratitud Nacional. Una mañana, llegó a la Comandancia de "Cazadores", mi compadre el doctor Emilio Aldunate Bascuñán con su hijo Raúl como premio por haberse recibido tempranamente de Bachiller en Humanidades. Cumpliendo sus deseos, me lo traía a hacer la Guardia en mi Regimiento (...). La revolución de los tenientes: tres años de la historia de Chile. Desde el ruido de sables en el Senado (septiembre de 1924) durante la presidencia de don Arturo Alessandri Palma, hasta el 2 de julio de 1927 en que asume el mando supremo el coronel Carlos Ibáñez del Campo.
- News: American Dreamers: Maria Jose Ubiergo . The New York Times . 12 June 2017 .
- News: Sergio Catalán, the Chilean muleteer who came to the rescue of the Andes tragedy survivors . El País . 31 January 2024 .
