List of Chileans

This is a list of Chileans who are famous or notable.



Economists

 * Ricardo J. Caballero – MIT professor, Department of Economics
 * Sebastián Edwards – UCLA professor, former World Bank officer (1993–1996), prolific author and media personality
 * Alejandro Foxley – Chile's first Finance Minister after the return of democracy in 1990 and an engineer of the country's economic miracle during democracy; former Foreign Affairs minister, and former Chilean Senator for East kakarackoj
 * Manfred Max Neef – Right Livelihood Award winner, presidential candidate, member of the Club of Rome, former president of the Universidad Austral
 * José Piñera – implemented the privatization of the Chilean pension system under Pinochet
 * Andrés Velasco – Sumitomo Professor of International Finance and Development in the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University; Finance Minister during Bachelet's administration

Military

 * Manuel Baquedano – general of the Chilean forces during the War of the Pacific
 * Philip Bazaar – recipient of the US Navy Medal of Honour
 * José Miguel Carrera – first Commander-in-Chief of the Chilean Army and Independence leader of the Patria Vieja
 * Luis Carrera – Chilean military officer in the War of Independence
 * Ignacio Carrera Pinto – captain in charge of the Chilean patrol who died in Battle of La Concepción
 * Carlos Condell – captain of the Covadonga ship at the Iquique Naval Combat
 * Manuel Contreras – head of Augusto Pinochet's National Intelligence Directorate (DINA)
 * Manuel Hipólito Orella – sailor who was one of the first midshipman of the Chilean Navy
 * Patricio Lynch – governor of Lima during the Chilean occupation of Lima, Perú, during the War of the Pacific
 * Juan MacKenna – Irish-born organizer of O'Higgins's Army
 * Bernardo O'Higgins – founder of modern Chile
 * Arturo Prat – captain of the Esmeralda ship at the Iquique Naval Combat; regarded as a national hero
 * Luis Pardo – also known as Piloto Pardo, Chilean Navy captain who rescued the survivors of the Shackleton expedition
 * Sofanor Parra – officer of the cavalry branch of the Chilean Army who fought in almost all the military actions of the War of the Pacific
 * Juan de Quiroga y Apablaza – military figure
 * Manuel Rodríguez – Independence leader and guerrilla leader during the Reconquista
 * Eleuterio Ramírez – officer, hero of the War of the Pacific
 * José Ignacio Zenteno – lieutenant Colonel of the Army of the Andes, Minister of War and Marine in the O'Higgins government

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 180 Degrees South: Conquerors of the Useless (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



 * Claudio Bravo (1936–2011) – hyper-realist painter
 * Carlos Catasse – painter
 * Marta Colvin – sculptor
 * Alfredo Jaar – installation artist, filmmaker and architect
 * Olga Lehmann – painter
 * Roberto Matta – painter, sculptor
 * Camilo Mori – painter
 * Dora Puelma – artist
 * Carlos Sotomayor – cubist painter
 * Miguel Venegas – painter, called "El Maestro" (the Master)

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



 * Rodolfo Acevedo – Mormon bishop
 * Saint Teresa de los Andes – first Chilean saint
 * Carlos Camus – Chilean bishop
 * Francisco Javier Errázuriz – fourth Chilean cardinal
 * Juan Francisco Fresno – third Chilean cardinal
 * Raúl Silva Henríquez – second Chilean cardinal born in Talca; human rights advocate
 * Alberto Hurtado – saint
 * Jorge Medina – fifth Chilean cardinal; conservative figure
 * Fr. Juan Ignacio Molina – Chilean priest, naturalist, historian, botanist, ornithologist, geographer
 * José María Caro Rodríguez – first Chilean cardinal
 * Francisco Javier Quintanilla – theologian
 * Juan Subercaseaux Errázuriz – Chilean Roman Catholic Archbishop
 * José María Vélaz – Chilean priest
 * Blessed Laura Vicuña

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
 * 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



 * Ricardo Baeza Rodríguez – mathematician
 * Ricardo Baeza-Yates – computer scientist
 * Erik Bongcam-Rudloff – bioinformatician
 * Claudio Bunster – physicist
 * Marcela Contreras – immunologist
 * F. J. Duarte – laser physicist
 * Matias Duarte – software inventor
 * Julio M. Fernandez – biologist, academic
 * Eric Goles – mathematician
 * Mario Hamuy – cosmologist and astronomer
 * Cesar A. Hidalgo – physicist
 * Cecilia Hidalgo Tapia – biochemist
 * Adriana Hoffmann – botanist, Environment Minister (2000–2001)
 * Paula Jofré – astronomer and astrophysicist
 * Humberto Maturana – biologist, co-author of the theory of autopoiesis
 * Juan Ignacio Molina – 18th and 19th-century natural scientist
 * Hermann Niemeyer – paediatrician and biochemist
 * Ernestina Pérez Barahona, physician
 * María Teresa Ruiz – astronomer
 * Elisa Torres Durney, outstanding quantum student
 * Pablo DT Valenzuela – biotechnologist, co-founder of Chiron Corporation and Fundacion Ciencias Para la Vida
 * Francisco Varela – biologist, co-author of the theory of autopoiesis

Film and television personalities

 * Alejandro Amenábar - film director, screenwriter and composer
 * Cecilia Amenábar - actress, TV presenter and model
 * Cecilia Bolocco - TV presenter, journalist and former Miss Universe
 * Diana Bolocco - TV presenter and journalist
 * Santiago Cabrera - actor
 * Felipe Camiroaga - TV presenter
 * Charissa Chamorro - actress
 * Martín Cárcamo - TV presenter
 * Karen Doggenweiler - TV presenter
 * Julián Elfenbein - radio and TV presenter
 * Pablo Francisco - comedian, actor and writer
 * Cristián de la Fuente - actor and model
 * Alberto Fuguet - film director, author, journalist and film critic
 * Jorge Garcia - actor and comedian
 * Paulina García - actress
 * Luis Gatica - actor
 * Claudia di Girolamo - actress
 * Luis Gnecco - actor
 * Lisa Guerrero - journalist, TV presenter, actress and model
 * Patricio Guzmán - film director
 * Alejandro Jodorowsky - filmmaker
 * Mario Kreutzberger (Don Francisco) – TV presenter
 * Pablo Larraín - film director
 * Sebastián Lelio - film director and screenwriter
 * Ariel Levy - actor
 * Carolina Mestrovic - TV presenter and actress
 * Claudio Miranda - cinematographer
 * Cristina Montt - actress
 * Cote de Pablo - actress
 * Pedro Pascal - actor
 * Carlos Pinto - TV presenter and journalist
 * Nicole Polizzi – reality TV Personality
 * Antonio Prieto - actor and singer
 * Francisco Puelles - actor and TV personality
 * Francisco Reyes Morandé - actor
 * Raúl Ruiz - film director
 * Katherine Salosny - TV presenter and actress
 * Horatio Sanz - actor and comedian
 * Fernando Solis - radio and TV presenter
 * Tonka Tomicic - TV presenter and model
 * Catalina Vallejos - actress and model
 * Leonor Varela - actress and model
 * Daniela Vega - actress
 * Gabriela Velasco – actress and television presenter
 * Benjamín Vicuña - actor
 * Alexander Witt - filmmaker
 * Andrés Wood - film director and screenwriter

Writers

 * Lorenzo Aillapán – poet
 * Fernando Alegría – writer
 * Isabel Allende – novelist (The House of Spirits)
 * Roberto Ampuero – novelist (Cayetano Brulé series)
 * Roberto Bolaño – 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 – 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 – 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

 * Alejandro Aravena – 2015 Pritzker Prize winner
 * Guillermo Jullian de la Fuente
 * Mathias Klotz – 2001 Borromini Prize of Architecture winner for under-40 architects

Others

 * Raúl Aldunate Phillips – writer, politician, and soldier
 * 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
 * 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 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