Exequiel González Cortés
Exequiel González Cortés | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Senate | |
| In office 15 May 1926 – 15 May 1937 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 31 March 1878 |
| Died | 11 April 1956 (aged 78) |
| Party | Conservative Party |
| Spouse | Elena Schulz |
| Profession | Physician, University professor |
José Exequiel González Cortés (31 March 1878 – 11 April 1956) was a Chilean physician, university professor and politician. A prominent member of the Conservative Party, he served as both deputy and senator and is regarded as one of the principal promoters of the Chilean social security system.[1]
Biography
González Cortés was born in Santiago to Exequiel González Chaves and Juana Cortés. He married Elena Schulz, with whom he had seven children.[1]
He studied at the Colegio Salvador in Concepción and later at the Instituto Nacional in Santiago. He entered the University of Chile to study medicine, graduating as a physician and surgeon in 1903, specializing in internal medicine.[1]
Between 1905 and 1908, he was commissioned by the Chilean government to pursue advanced medical studies in Germany, where he trained at the clinics of von Bergmann, Klauss and Leyden. During this period, he also served as a government delegate to the Tuberculosis Congress in Paris. In 1910, he qualified as extraordinary professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of Chile. In 1912, he was again sent to Europe to study Neosalvarsan, a newly discovered treatment for syphilis, later submitting detailed reports on his findings.[1]
From 1917 to 1921, he served as Director of the Medical Clinic Service at the Hospital del Salvador. Between 1921 and 1927, he was deputy administrator of the Hospital San Juan de Dios, where he improved working conditions for staff and expanded patient care, creating physiotherapy and massage therapy units for physical rehabilitation.[1]
Political career
González Cortés militated in the Conservative Party, serving three times as its president and as a member of its governing board.[1]
He was elected deputy for the periods 1921–1924 and 1924–1927, before later serving as senator during the legislative periods 1926–1934 and 1933–1937. His senatorial mandate during the 1933–1937 period fell within the institutional adjustment that followed the revolutionary events of June 1932.[1]
In 1924, he was appointed permanent councillor of the Central Board of the Workers’ Insurance Fund. He played a key role in the International Labour Conference held in Geneva in 1929, where the compulsory workers’ health and disability insurance was approved. He was also a government delegate to the International Labour Conference held in Santiago in 1937.[1]
Other activities
González Cortés was a member of the Workers’ Insurance Fund, the Agricultural Credit Fund, the Board of Charity, and the Central Milk Board of Beneficence. He was an honorary member of the Academy of Medicine of Düsseldorf, Germany. He was also a member of the Medical Society of Chile and served as its president between 1937 and 1938.[1]
He died in Santiago on 11 April 1956.[1]