Rafael Agustín Gumucio

Rafael Agustín Gumucio Vives (22 February 1909 – 28 June 1996) was a Chilean lawyer, academic, and politician. He served as deputy (1955–1965) and senator (1965–1973), and previously as undersecretary of Finance under President Gabriel González Videla. He was active in the Falange Nacional, later the Christian Democrats, before joining the MAPU and finally the Christian Left.^[1]

He was born in Santiago on 22 February 1909, the son of Francisco Gumucio Vergara and Rosa Vives Solar. He studied at the Instituto de Humanidades Luis Campino and later entered the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, graduating as a lawyer in 1932.

He married Marta Rivas González, with whom he had three children: Rafael Luis, Manuela and Juan Sebastián. He was the brother of priest Esteban Gumucio and grandfather of politician Marco Enríquez-Ominami and writer Rafael Gumucio.

In the 1940s he joined the Falange Nacional, and was appointed Undersecretary of Finance during the presidency of Gabriel González Videla. With the founding of the Christian Democratic Party (PDC) in 1957, he became one of its prominent members.

He was elected deputy in 1955 for the 7th Departmental Grouping of Santiago, and was reelected for two consecutive terms, serving until 1965. During his time in the Chamber of Deputies he sat on the permanent commissions of Government Interior, Economy and Commerce, Labor and Social Legislation, and Education.

In 1965 he was elected senator for the 4th Provincial Grouping of Santiago, holding office until 1973. He was part of the permanent commissions of Public Education, Foreign Relations, and Public Health. He also served as vice president of the Senate between 1969 and 1971.

In 1969 he left the PDC to join the newly created MAPU, and later was one of the founders of the Christian Left, aligning with opposition forces to the military dictatorship.

After the 1973 coup d'état, he went into exile, living in Italy and France, where he met with international leaders such as French president François Mitterrand. He also contributed columns to the Chilean opposition magazines Apsi and Análisis.

He returned to Chile in 1983, participating in the resistance to the dictatorship. In 1985 he was part of the group Intransigencia Democrática, and he joined the board of the newspaper Fortín Mapocho. In 1989 he co-founded the ecumenical magazine Reflexión y Liberación, which he directed until his death.

He died in Santiago on 28 June 1996. His funeral was held in a liturgy presided by his brother Esteban Gumucio, and he was buried in the Cementerio General de Santiago.^[1]

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