Luis Claro Solar (January 20, 1857 – July 19, 1945) was a distinguished

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 ...

an lawyer, politician and jurist. He was a Senator of the Republic of Chile and President of the Senate. His

magnum opus A masterpiece, , or ; ; ) is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, skill, profundity, or workmanship. Historically, ...

was the treatise ''Explicaciones del Derecho Civil Chileno y Comparado'' (Explications of the Chilean and Comparate Law) consisting of fifteen tomes. He also was a member of the Cuerpo de Bomberos de Santiago (Santiago's Fire Brigade), becoming superintendent.

Biography

Family and studies

His parents were José Luis Claro y Cruz and

Amelia Solar de Claro Amelia Solar de Claro (October 11, 1836 - November 21, 1915) was a Chilean poet, playwright, and essayist. Biography Maria Amelia de las Mercedes Solar was the daughter of José María del Solar Marín and Mercedes Marín del Solar, the first Chi ...

. His first studies were cursed in the Instituto Nacional, where he was admitted in 1870, being rector of that institution don

Diego Barros Arana Diego Jacinto Agustín Barros Arana (; August 16, 1830 – November 4, 1907) was a Chilean professor, legislator, minister and diplomat. He is considered the most important Chilean historian of the 19th century. His main work ''General History o ...

. Later, in 1876 he was admitted into the Faculty of Law of the

Universidad de Chile The University of Chile () is a public research university in Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the co ...

, titrating on January 3, 1880. In 1884 he married Victoria Salas Errázuriz, with whom he had six sons.

Political career

In the administration, he served the charge of Subsecretary of the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the ...

- at that time called Major Officer - during the government of

José Manuel Balmaceda José Manuel Emiliano Balmaceda Fernández (; July 19, 1840 – September 19, 1891) served as the 10th President of Chile from September 18, 1886, to August 29, 1891. Balmaceda was part of the Castilian-Basque aristocracy in Chile. While h ...

. During 1912, he returned to the politics when he was elected as Senator by the Province of Aconcagua. He integrated the

Senate of Chile The Senate of the Republic of Chile is the upper house of Chile's bicameral National Congress, as established in the current Constitution of Chile. Composition According to the present Constitution of Chile, the Senate is composed of forty ...

during two periods, until 1924, presiding over it since 1920. In 1918 he was called to the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

, from where he advocated monetary policies that influenced the creation of the

Central Bank of Chile The Central Bank of Chile () is the central bank of Chile. It was established in 1925 and is incorporated into the current Chilean Constitution as an autonomous institution of constitutional rank. Its monetary policy is currently guided by an infl ...

Academic career

Later, he was involved into the exercise of the profession and also into the university teaching, having in both an outstanding performance. He taught Civil Law in the University of Chile, being his principal work the "''Explications of the Chilean and Comparate Law''" (Explicaciones del Derecho Civil Chileno y Comparado), that, even though incomplete due to his dying, is the most important work of the Civil Law Jurisprudence and one of the most transcendent in the Latino-American Jurisprudence.

References

Revista del Abogado 5, 1995, p. 44
Digitalizado por la Universidad de los Andes
Reseña biográfica de un gran jurista -Publicado en La Semana Jurídica Nº 285, 2006, pp. 8–9
por Hernán Corral Talciani
Biografía en la Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional
Members of the Senate of Chile 1857 births 1945 deaths 19th-century Chilean lawyers 20th-century Chilean lawyers University of Chile alumni {{Chile-Senator-stub