# 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
* Altazores – rock band founded in 2004 by Mauricio Herrera
* Américo – cumbia chilena singer
* Tom Araya – singer/bassist for thrash metal band Slayer
* Daniela Aleuy - singer and songwriter
* Claudio Arrau – classical piano player
* FloyyMenor – reggaeton singer
* Cris MJ – reggaeton singer
* Paloma Mami – reggaeton singer
* 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
* Luis "Checho" González – folklore composer, born in Iquique
* 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
* Isleña Antumalen – Huilliche singer, rapper, and activist
* 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
* Oscar Lopez – senior latin guitarists musician, born in Santiago
* Rafael Manríquez – nueva canción musician
* Javiera Mena – Indie electropop musician
* DJ Méndez – urban music producer
* Mon Laferte – singer-songwriter
* El Monteaguilino – Cueca composer, born in Monte Águila
* 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
* Claudio Arrau
* Violeta Parra
* Myriam Hernández
* Francisca Valenzuela
* Mon Laferte

## 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 Department of Tomé [es] 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
* Herman Chadwick Piñera – Chilean lawyer, businessman, trade union leader and politician
* 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
* Jennifer Rojas – social worker and politician
* 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
* Bayron Saavedra (born 1997) – footballer
* 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
* Anita Lizana
* Fernando González
* Nicolás Massú
* Leonel Sánchez
* Alexis Sánchez

## 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
* Gunther Uhlmann - mathematician
* 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
* Gabriela Bussenius - journalist, writer and filmmaker
* 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
* Cecilia Bolocco
* Santiago Cabrera
* Cote de Pablo
* Pedro Pascal
* Leonor Varela

## 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 in Literature
* Nicolasa Montt – poet
* Tomás Moulian – political scientist and sociologist
* Pablo Neruda – winner of the Nobel Prize in 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
* Cecilia Magni Camino – guerilla leader and sociologist
* 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
* Immanuel Holger – soldier and politician
* 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
* Sergio Saavedra (1927–2022) – engineer and politician
* 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