Rafael Señoret

Manuel Rafael Señoret Lapsley (22 April 1914 – 24 September 1988) was a Chilean accountant and politician.

He served as Deputy for the 7th Departamental Group (Santiago, First District) from 1969 to 1973, holding the post of First Vice President of the Chamber of Deputies (September 1969–May 1970).

He was born in Santiago in 1914, the son of Manuel Señoret Silva and María Lapsley Louis. He was grandson of Rear Admiral Manuel Señoret Astaburuaga, nephew of Senator Octavio Señoret Silva, and cousin of poet Raquel Señoret.

He studied at the Liceo José Victorino Lastarria and later graduated as an accountant from the Instituto Superior de Comercio. He worked in agriculture in Conchalí, served as a road inspector for three years, and between 1935 and 1940 worked at Compañía de Cervecerías Unidas. In 1941 he became general secretary of the Carabineros de Chile Consumer Cooperative.

He married Elcira Soto Cortés in first marriage, with whom he had four children: Manuel, Carmen, Miriam and Rafael. In second marriage he married Nancy Müller Westman.

Señoret began his political activities in the Radical Youth, where he became national president. Later he served as vice president of the Radical Assembly of Santiago.

In 1947 he was elected councilman of Santiago, serving until 1949. After his tenure he was appointed councillor of the Caja de Jornaleros Municipales, president of the Confederación de Municipalidades, and councillor of the Teatro Municipal de Santiago.

In the 1969 elections, he was elected Deputy for the 7th Departamental Group (Santiago, First District) for the 1969–1973 term. He served as First Vice President of the Chamber of Deputies between 16 September 1969 and 12 May 1970, and sat on the Permanent Commission of Internal Government.^[1]

On 1 July 1969 he resigned from the Radical Party and in May 1970 joined Democracia Radical. In 1984 he left that party and co-founded the Movimiento de Unidad Radical, later joining the Social Democracy. In 1986 he was also part of the Movimiento Unitario Social Demócrata. That same year he returned to the Radical Party, appearing as a member in its deed of reconstitution on 8 January 1988.^[2]

• BCN Profile