Antonio Huneeus

Antonio Huneuus
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 2 August 1926 – 20 November 1926
President	Emiliano Figueroa
Preceded by	Beltrán Mathieu
Succeeded by	Jorge Matte Gormaz
Minister of the Interior
In office 29 August 1922 – 16 October 1922
President	Arturo Alessandri
Preceded by	Armando Jaramillo V.
Succeeded by	Luis Izquierdo Fredes
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
In office 15 May 1906 – 15 May 1909
Constituency	Santiago, Chile
Personal details
Born	(1870-07-04)4 July 1870 Coquimbo, Chile
Died	9 January 1951(1951-01-09) (aged 80) Santiago, Chile
Party	Liberal Party
Spouse	Magdalena Valdés
Children	4
Education	University of Chile (LL.B)
Profession	Lawyer

Antonio Ricardo Huneuus Gana (4 July 1870 – 9 January 1951) was a Chilean politician who served as a minister.

He served as a minister of state under presidents Germán Riesco, Ramón Barros Luco, Juan Luis Sanfuentes, Arturo Alessandri and Emiliano Figueroa Larraín.

Early life

Huneeus was born in Santiago on 4 July 1870, the son of politician Jorge Huneeus Zegers and Domitila Gana Cruz. His brothers Francisco and Jorge also served in Congress, and politician Domingo Gana Cruz was his uncle.

He attended the Colegio de los Sagrados Corazones de Santiago from 1879 to 1885 and subsequently studied law at the University of Chile. He qualified as a lawyer on 20 December 1890. He married Magdalena Valdés Ortúzar, with whom he had four children.

Huneeus practised law and taught philosophy of law at the University of Chile from 1891 to 1906, where he also served as secretary of the School of Legal and Social Sciences. He wrote on constitutional law, international law and history and contributed to newspapers and academic journals.

Political career

A member of the Liberal Party, Huneeus served as its national president. Under President Germán Riesco, he was Minister of Justice and Public Instruction from 1 August to 21 October 1905 and later Minister of Foreign Affairs, Worship and Colonization in 1906.

He was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for Santiago for the 1906–1909 term and served as a substitute member of the Permanent Commission on Legislation and Justice. During his term, he participated in legislation concerning workers' housing, taxation and public administration.

Huneeus subsequently returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under Ramón Barros Luco, serving from 8 August 1912 to 13 January 1913, and again under Juan Luis Sanfuentes from 26 March to 23 July 1920. He was Minister of the Interior under Arturo Alessandri from 29 August to 16 October 1922, and served another term as foreign minister under Emiliano Figueroa Larraín from 2 August to 20 November 1926.

In 1921, Huneeus travelled to Europe, where he chaired the Commission for the Admission of States of the League of Nations and represented Chile at the tenth international conference of the Red Cross.

He was president of the Chilean Society of History and Geography and the Chilean Red Cross, and was involved in several educational, legal and civic organizations. His foreign decorations included the rank of Commander of the French Legion of Honour, the Grand Cross of the Spanish Order of Isabella the Catholic and the Grand Cross of the Order of St. Gregory the Great.

Huneeus died on 9 January 1951.