Montt Álvarez, Jorge (1846–1922)

Jorge Montt Álvarez (b. 22 April 1846; d. 8 October 1922), Chilean admiral and president of Chile (1891–1896). A career naval officer, Montt entered the navy at twelve. He served with distinction in the war with Spain of 1865–1866 as well as in the War of the Pacific. During the 1891 revolution he commanded the congressionalist flotilla and served as the head of the insurgent movement's governing board. Montt led the fleet during the key battles of Concón and Placilla.

Following the victory of the congressionalists over José Manuel Balmaceda, the legislature unanimously elected Montt president of Chile. An apolitical supporter of the parliamentary cause, Montt did not want the post but was prevailed upon to take it in the interest of fostering national unity. He may have regretted giving up the simple life of a naval officer for the tumultuous one of ruling a nation beset by domestic problems and besieged by foreign enemies such as the United States and Argentina.

As president, Montt nonetheless managed to quell unrest, integrate the forces of Balmaceda into the country's political life, oversee honest elections, resolve the Baltimore Incident, and avoid war with Buenos Aires. He tried but failed to return the nation to the gold standard. This former admiral, perhaps out of deference to the new political system, did not rule Chile but left its administration in the hands of the eight cabinets that governed the nation.

After the completion of his presidential term, Montt returned to the fleet, where he labored to reform the navy's administrative system. Following his retirement from active duty after more than fifty years of naval service, he directed the Chilean Red Cross and served as an alderman in Valparaíso, where he attempted to reform municipal politics. An honest man who, unlike other parliamentary regime politicians, did not use public service to enrich himself, he died virtually penniless.

See alsoChile, Revolutions: Revolution of 1891 .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Rodgrigo Fuenzalida Bade, Marinos ilustres y destacados del pasado (1985), pp. 143-148.

Manuel Rivas Vícuña, Historia política y parlamentaria de Chile, 3 vols. (1964), vol. 1, pp. 13-46.

Additional Bibliography

Castedo, Leopoldo. Chile: vida y muerte de la repú blica parlamentaria (de Balmaceda a Alessandri). Santiago de Chile: Editorial Sudamericana, 2001.

Núñez P., Jorge. 1891, crónica de la guerra civil. Santiago de Chile: LOM Ediciones, 2003.

                                           William F. Sater