Edgardo Enríquez Frödden (; February 9, 1912 - November 1, 1996) was a Chilean physician, academic and minister of education under the Salvador Allende government.

Biography

Family and careers

Enríquez Frödden was born into an upper middle class family that featured prominently in the political history of the city of Concepción,

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, as the son of Marco Antonio Enríquez Henríquez and Rosalba Frödden Lorenzen. His sister, Inés Enríquez Frödden, (1913–1998) was a lawyer, a leader of the Chilean Radical Party and the first woman elected into the chamber of deputies of the Chilean parliament. His brother, Humberto Enríquez Frödden (1907–1989), was a law professor, Chilean

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

and minister of health. Another brother, Hugo Enríquez Frödden, a physician, held the position of director of the ''Juan Aguirre Hospital'' in Santiago and was a distinguished member of the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

. He entered the medical school of the University of Concepción in 1930 and graduated in 1936. As a student he received the ''A. de Ambrossy Prize'' from the University of Concepción and the ''Carlos Mockenberg Prize'' from the

University of Chile The University of Chile () is a public university, public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

– both awards were earned for academic excellence. He married the lawyer Raquel Espinoza Townsend with whom he had four children: his youngest child Miguel Enríquez (1944–1974) followed him into the field of medicine and became the legendary revolutionary figure who founded the MIR and headed the resistance against the Pinochet dictatorship. Enríquez Frödden served in the Naval Academy from 1938, first as a general practitioner, later he became the director of the Naval Hospital of

Talcahuano Talcahuano () (From Mapudungun ''Tralkawenu'', "Thundering Sky") is a port city and commune in the Biobío Region of Chile. It is part of the Greater Concepción conurbation. Talcahuano is located in the south of the Central Zone of Chile. ...

; ultimately reaching the rank of Captain of the Naval Medical Services Corp. He was also a professor of anatomy and medicine in a number of schools and institutions and he chaired the first ''Latin American Studies Conference'' held in Concepción in 1969.

Popular Unity

Just after the June 29, 1973 '' tanquetazo'', Salvador Allende began to set up a new cabinet to appease his opponents in Congress who were systematically impairing his democratically elected socialist government. Allende began to offer ministerial posts to members of the Christian democratic party - a party that had traditionally represented the

middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. C ...

es in Chile. By 1973 the Christian democratic party had started to shift to the right and openly show support for a military overthrow of the popular unity government. Letter sent by Eduardo Frei Montalva to Mariano Rumor justifying the military coup of September 11, 1973 that ended Salvador Allende’s government. (Spanish language) In this climate of open political provocation by his enemies in Congress Allende found it difficult to find someone with the credentials to accept the ministerial portfolio for education because the education reforms he had initiated encountered major obstacles. Allende had promised an overhaul in education in Chile, he massively increased expenditure for

public education A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in part by taxation and operated by the government of the state. State-f ...

and had implemented a university reform aimed to facilitate access to

higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

for the

working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

and people from the

shanty town A shanty town, squatter area, squatter settlement, or squatter camp is a settlement of improvised buildings known as shanties or shacks, typically made of materials such as mud and wood, or from cheap building materials such as corrugated iron s ...

s. His reform had started to encounter powerful and staunch opposition from private educational institutions (which was backed by the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

hierarchy and employers' organisations) – where the Chilean elite normally enrolled their children to prevent them associating with lower or working-class people. It was within this political context that Enríquez Frödden accepted the post of minister of education offered to him by Allende - but his ministerial term was cut short by the U.S. backed military overthrow of the Salvador Allende government on September 11, 1973.

Arrest and exile

After the military overthrow of the Popular Unity government and the subsequent death of President Salvador Allende, the new military junta declared members of his government enemies of the state. The military junta moved quickly to remove Allende’s ministers from the public scene with many imprisoned, exiled and some murdered. Enriquez Frödden was arrested, imprisoned and then relocated to the remote concentration camp set up in Dawson Island. He was forced into

exile Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

with his wife in 1976 and settled in Mexico where he remained for about 14 years. Enriquez Frödden (with his wife Raquel) spent the rest of their lives campaigning for the disappeared and denouncing the human rights abuses that were committed by the Pinochet regime. Two of his sons Miguel Enríquez, and Edgardo Enriquez along with his ex-son in law Bautista van Schouwen (all three leading members of the MIR) were assassinated in the first period of the Pinochet dictatorship.

''…the old Chilean Army. Its members were like a family. We all knew and respected each other. It was with great pain that I witnessed such a radical and unfavourable change in it after September 1973. The army had been corrupted by officers and sub-officers who had completed courses in Internal War and National Security in the United States (WHISC). Most of the graduates of these courses returned to Chile transformed into Nazis. I never could have imagined a naval officer taking on the role of jailer and torturer. To my disgrace I not only bore witness to this but experience it first hand since I suffered both physical and psychological torture in their hands – such as being given water with faeces to drink in a concentration camp in Dawson Island, which was administered and directed by the Chilean Armed Forces.''
— Dr. Edgardo Enríquez Frödden (1994)Part of a paragraph of the book ''En el nombre de una vida'', Mexico. 1994

Positions held

* President of the Regional Council of Concepcion of Chile’s School of Medicine between 1949 and 1967. * Director of the Naval Hospital of

. (1963–1969) * Professor of Anatomy at the University of Concepción and the

University of Chile The University of Chile () is a public university, public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

(1936–1972) * Rector of the University of Concepción. (1969–1972) * Minister of Education (July 1973 – September 1973)

Bibliography

*Gilbert, Jorge. ''Edgardo Enríquez Frödden testimonio de un destierro'' (1992)

References

External links

Remembering Allende and Popular Unity by Dan Morgan September 2008

{{DEFAULTSORT:Enriquez, Edgardo 1912 births 1996 deaths Chilean scholars and academics Chilean exiles Chilean Navy personnel Chilean people of German descent Ministers of education of Chile People from Concepción, Chile University of Concepción alumni Chilean military doctors Chilean agnostics Radical Party of Chile politicians Radical Social Democratic Party of Chile politicians