César Godoy

César Godoy Urrutia (6 September 1901 – 1 December 1985) was a Chilean teacher and politician, member of the Communist Party of Chile. He was the son of Guillermo Godoy and Aurora Urrutia. He married first Flor María Forniachari and later María del Tránsito Herrera Ferrada.

He studied at the Liceo de Talca, and completed his secondary education at the Normal School of Curicó, obtaining his teacher's degree in 1918.

He began his professional career as a teacher at the Escuela N.°3 of Talca and later at several educational institutions in Santiago. He collaborated in the publications Consigna and Claridad, and between 1928 and 1929 served as secretary of the International of American Teachers, based in Buenos Aires.

In 1933 he was among the founders of the Socialist Party of Chile. Shortly thereafter, he was elected as a regidor of Santiago (1936–1937). In 1937 he was elected deputy for the 7th Departmental District of Santiago (1937–1941), serving on the Permanent Commission of Government and the Permanent Commission of Public Education.

After the triumph of the Popular Front and the assumption of President Pedro Aguirre Cerda in 1939, he left the Socialist Party and joined the Socialist Workers Party. He was director of the newspaper Combate in 1939.

In 1941 he returned to Congress as deputy for Santiago (1941–1945), elected in a complementary election after the appointment of Juan Bautista Rossetti as Minister of Foreign Affairs. In 1944, he formally joined the Communist Party of Chile. He was again elected deputy for Santiago (1945–1949), serving on the Permanent Commissions of Government, Constitution, Legislation and Justice, Public Education, and National Defense.

Following the promulgation of the Law for the Permanent Defense of Democracy in 1949, he was persecuted and forced into asylum in Mexico. He also contributed to several literary and political publications.

Godoy was a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party at the XIV Congress (April 1956), XV (November 1958), XVI (March 1962), XVII (October 1965) and XVIII (November 1969). He was re-elected deputy for Santiago (1961–1965), serving on the Commissions of Foreign Affairs, Labor and Social Legislation, and Public Education. He served one more term (1965–1969) as deputy for Santiago, this time on the Commission of Foreign Affairs.

Between 1970 and 1973 he was a columnist for the newspaper Puro Chile. After the 1973 Chilean coup d'état, he was imprisoned as a political prisoner. In 1975 he went into exile in Mexico, returning to Chile in 1984. He died in Santiago the following year.

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