Juan Luis Urrutia

Juan Luis Urrutia (2 October 1906 – 10 July 1973) was a Chilean farmer, businessman, and liberal politician.^[1]

He served as Deputy of the Republic for the 16th Departmental Grouping (Chillán, Bulnes and Yungay) during the legislative periods 1957–1961 and 1961–1965.

Urrutia died in his hometown San Rafael, on 10 July 1973.

Urrutia was born in Santiago on 2 October 1906, the son of Juan de Dios Urrutia Rozas and Celia Prieto. He studied at the Colegio San Ignacio in Santiago.

Before entering politics, Urrutia dedicated himself to agricultural activities in Bulnes until 1932, later engaging in commerce as a supplier to the Army and the Prison Service. He was also a broker of national agricultural products and managed his own business office, Sociedad Comercial Chilex, as well as an avian breeding farm.

He owned a rural estate (fundo) in San Rafael, Bulnes. He served as councillor of the Pension and Retirement Fund for Municipal Employees (1957–1958) and presided over the Chilean Horse Breeders’ Society.

Additionally, he was a member of the Sociedad Nacional de Agricultura (SNA), the Asociación Chilena de Avicultores, and the Club de La Unión and Club Hípico de Santiago. He was also a volunteer in the Fifth Fire Company “Arturo Prat” of Santiago.

A member of the Liberal Party, Urrutia was elected Deputy for the 16th Departmental Grouping (Chillán, Bulnes and Yungay) for the 1957–1961 period, serving on the Permanent Commissions of Public Works and of Internal Police and Regulations. He was a member of the Liberal Parliamentary Committee in 1957.

Reelected for the 1961–1965 period, he continued to serve on both Commissions. During his parliamentary career, he participated in several legislative initiatives, including the establishment of an annual public holiday on 20 August in Ñuble Province (Law Nº 12,502 of 17 August 1957).

Among his individual motions that became law are:

• The donation of municipal land for the construction of a police station (Retén de Carabineros) in the commune of Pinto, Yungay (Law Nº 14,114, 11 October 1960);
• Customs exemptions for importing an electric organ for the Chillán Cathedral (Law Nº 14,633, 28 September 1961);
• Transfer of houses to relatives of firefighters who died in a Santiago blaze (Law Nº 16,148, 30 January 1965).

He also promoted multiple motions to provide municipal loans to the communes of Tucapel, Yungay, San Nicolás, El Carmen, Bulnes, and Pemuco.

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