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Fulbright Association
666 11th Street, N.W.
Suite 525
Washington, D.C. 20001
Phone: (202) 347-5543
Fax: (202) 347-6540 |
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Biography of Patricio Aylwin Azócar |
| Born in Viña del Mar, Chile, on November 26, 1918, to Laura Azócar and Miguel
Aylwin, Patricio Aylwin Azócar is the eldest of five children. An excellent
student, he enrolled in the Law School of the University of Chile where he
earned the degree of Bachelor of Juridical, Political and Social Sciences, with
the highest distinction, in 1943. He served as professor of administrative law,
first at the University of Chile and then also at the Catholic University of
Chile. He was also professor of civic education and political economy at the
National Institute of Santiago. |
| Patricio Aylwin’s involvement in politics was motivated by a profound commitment
to justice instilled by his father and by a strong social conscience influenced
by his mother. He joined the Falange Nacional in 1945. He was elected president
of the Falange and later, of the Christian Democratic Party, which he served
seven terms as president between 1958 and 1989. |
| Before his election as president of the Republic of Chile, Patricio Aylwin
played key political roles. In 1965 he was elected to the National Congress as
senator. During the government of Popular Unity headed by Salvador Allende, he
was president of the Senate (1971- 1972) and was reelected to the Senate in
1973. Then president of his party, he led the democratic opposition, intending
to work with President Allende and others to find a peaceful solution to the
country’s political crisis. These attempts were brought to a brutal end on
September 11, 1973, by the military coup that installed as president army chief
of staff, General Augusto Pinochet. |
| Patricio Aylwin, president of the Christian Democrats until 1976, led his party
during one of the most difficult eras in Chilean history. Later he helped
establish the "Constitutional Studies Group of 24" to reunite the country’s
democratic sectors against the dictatorship. In 1980 he served as a spokesman in
the contest against the constitution the military government imposed on the
plebiscite. |
| In 1982 Patricio Aylwin was elected vice president of the Christian Democrats.
He was among the first to advocate acceptance of the constitution as a reality
in order to facilitate the return to democracy. The opposition eventually met
the legal standards imposed by the Pinochet regime and participated in the 1988
plebiscite. |
| In October 1988 the Chilean people made their historic choice. The call of "no
to lies and oppression" resounded victorious. As spokesman for the Coalition of
Democratic Parties whose grass-roots campaign was carried out under constant
surveillance and harassment, Patricio Aylwin was at the center of the movement
that defeated General Pinochet. |
| After the plebiscite, Patricio Aylwin participated in negotiations that led the
government and the opposition to agree on 54 constitutional reforms, thereby
making possible a peaceful transition from 16 years of dictatorship to
democracy. |
| Patricio Aylwin was elected president of the Republic on December 14, 1989. He
led with wisdom and compassion, guiding the reconstruction of Chile and the
reconciliation of its peoples. Since leaving office in 1994, he has continued
his lifelong commitment to promoting justice. In 1995 he was the catalyst for a
United Nations summit on poverty. He is now president of the Corporation for
Democracy and Justice, a nonprofit organization he founded to develop approaches
to eliminating poverty and to strengthen ethical values in politics. |
| Patricio Aylwin has received the Doctor Honoris Causa degree from universities
in Australia, Canada, Colombia, France, Italy, Japan, Portugal, Spain, and the
United States and from seven Chilean universities. In 1997 the Council of Europe
awarded the North-South Prize to Patricio Aylwin and to Mary Robinson, former
president of Ireland, for their contributions to fostering human rights,
democracy, and cooperation between Europe and Latin America. |
| Patricio Aylwin is married to Leonor Oyarzún Ivanovic. They have five children
and 14 grandchildren.
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