Humberto Álvarez Suárez

Humberto Nicolás Álvarez Suárez (10 May 1895 – 24 January 1982) was a Chilean lawyer, academic and politician of the Radical Party of Chile. He served as Minister of Justice (1936), Minister of the Interior (1940), Deputy (1933–1940) and Senator (1941–1965). He briefly presided over the Senate of Chile from 31 May to 15 June 1949.

Álvarez was born in La Serena to Pedro Álvarez Rojo and Josefa Suárez Jiliberto. His brother Pedro Álvarez Suárez later served as Minister of Economy and Supplies during the early months of President Juan Antonio Ríos. He studied at the Liceo Gregorio Cordovez and graduated in law from the University of Chile on 5 September 1917 with the thesis Reformas introducidas al Código Civil por el Código de Procesamiento Civil. He married Marta Johannsen Bonchert; they had two children, Humberto and Marta.

He worked as secretary-lawyer of the Municipality of Coquimbo (1921–1922), served as relator of the Court of Appeals of La Serena, was secretary to the Civil Code reform commission, and legal secretary of the Association of Electric and Mining Companies. He later practiced law with Gabriel González Videla and Pedro Enrique Alfonso. In business, he presided over the Compañía Olivarera Nacional, the Compañía de Conservas e Industrias Pesqueras S.A., and the Sociedad Pesquera of Iquique. From 1947 he taught procedural law at the University of Chile.

A member of the Radical Party, Álvarez was elected Deputy for the 4th Departmental Group (La Serena, Elqui, Coquimbo) for the 1933–1937 term. He resigned his seat upon being appointed Minister of Justice by President Arturo Alessandri Palma (12 September–22 October 1936).

He was reelected Deputy for 1937–1941 (now covering La Serena, Elqui, Coquimbo, Ovalle, Illapel and Combarbalá), serving on the Committees of Social Legislation and Justice; Government; Constitution, Legislation and Justice; Finance; and the Joint Committee on the Organic Law of Courts. He again left the Chamber when appointed Minister of the Interior by President Pedro Aguirre Cerda (8 February–30 July 1940); his seat was filled by Rodolfo Masson Villarroel after a by-election.

Álvarez was then elected Senator for Atacama and Coquimbo in 1941 and reelected in 1949 and 1957, serving until 1965. He sat on the Committees of Constitution, Legislation and Justice; Finance; Education; Mining; Budget; and later held the Presidency of the Senate between 31 May and 15 June 1949. He also served as a Chilean delegate to the United Nations General Assembly in 1947.

Founder and director of the newspaper La Prensa of Coquimbo. A Freemason, he reached the highest degree within the Grand Lodge of Chile. He belonged to the Sociedad Nacional de Minería (SONAMI), the Bar Association of Chile, and the Chilean-Israeli Institute (which he chaired). He was also a member of the Club de La Unión, the Santiago Rotary Club and the Club Radical.

• Ángel Kaminski, Diccionario Biográfico Panamericano, Vol. I, Buenos Aires, 1952.
• Armando de Ramón Folch, Biografías de Chilenos: Miembros de los Poderes Ejecutivo, Legislativo y Judicial (1876–1973), Ediciones Universidad Católica de Chile, Vol. II, 1999.
• Luis Valencia Avaria, Anales de la República: registros de los ciudadanos que han integrado los Poderes Ejecutivo y Legislativo, Editorial Andrés Bello, 1986.
• Fernando Moraga, Gente de La Serena, p. 50, 2013.

• BCN Profile