This is a
list of Chileans who are famous or notable.
Economists/ Entrepreneurs
- Eduardo Aninat - finance minister during Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle presidential period. Former Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (1999-2003)
- Hernán Büchi - Columbia University trained economist. Minister of Economy during Pinochet government. The father of the country's economic miracle
- Ricardo Caballero - MIT professor, Department of Economics
- Sebastián Edwards - UCLA professor, former World Bank officer (1993-1996), prolific author and media personality
- Alejandro Foxley - Chile's first Finance Minister after the return of democracy in 1990 and an engineer of the country's economic miracle during democracy; current Foreign Affairs minister
- Óscar Landerretche - University of Oxford D. Phil (PhD), former CEO of the Chilean Development Agency, CORFO, and former Minister of Energy during Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle presidential period
- Manfred Max Neef - Alternative Nobel Prize winner, presidential candidate, member of the Club of Rome, former president of the Universidad Austral
- José Piñera - implemented the privatization of the Chilean pension system under Pinochet
- Andrés Velasco - Sumitomo Professor of International Finance and Development in the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University; current Finance Minister
- Nicolás Eyzaguirre - former Finance Minister
- Waleska Daroch - University of Santo Tomas Direct Equity Mortgage, USA. Founder of the Colo-Colo Basketball, Chile, along with the first Colo-Colo Chilean Soccer Academy for Children.
- Felix Senerman
Filmmakers
- Alejandro Amenábar - Chilean/Spanish director (Tesis (or Snuff), Abre los ojos, The Others, Mar Adentro)
- Silvio Caiozzi - (Julio Begins in July, The Moon in the Mirror, Coronation)
- Alberto Fuguet - Chilean/American director
- Patricio Guzmán - documentarian (The Battle of Chile)
- Ricardo Larraín - (The Frontier, Enthusiasm)
- Miguel Littin - (Jackal of Nahueltoro, Sandino, Tierra del Fuego)
- Alejandro Jodorowsky - Director (The Holy Mountain, El Topo, Santa Sangre), actor, and writer
- Raúl (Raoul) Ruiz - (Palomita Blanca, Genealogies of a Crime, Time Regained) resides in France
- Alexander Witt - director (Resident Evil: Apocalypse)
- Andrés Wood - (Machuca)
- Jorge López Sotomayor - (El Último Grumete de la Baquedano, XS, la peor talla)
- Germán A. Cornejo - Public television mogul.
- Ishtar Yasin Gutierrez - Iraqi/Chilean film director (The Path (El Camino))
Heads of State
(See President of Chile.)
Military
Musicians
Performers
Artists
Poets
Politicians
- Salvador Allende Gossens - Socialist and marxist president, senator, and doctor who died during the military coup of September 11, 1973
- Clodomiro Almeyda - socialist politician
- Soledad Alvear - former Justice minister and Foreign minister; current PDC senator
- Carlos Dávila - former Secretary General of the Organization of American States
- Florencio Durán - former president of the senate
- Fernando Flores - Former socialist politician; current Independent senator
- Sergio Fernández - right wing politician during the Pinochet regime.
- Jaime Guzmán - right wing politician during the Pinochet regime, murdered by Manuel Rodríguez Patriotic Front on April 1, 1991.
- Tomás Hirsch - former president of the Humanist Party of Chile and 2005 candidate for president
- Carlos Keller- Former Leader of the National Socialist Movement of Chile, responsible for the organization of the Seguro Obrero Massacre.
- José Miguel Insulza - former Interior minister; current Secretary General of the Organization of American States
- Joaquín Lavín - Independent Democratic Union candidate for presidency in 2005 election
- Orlando Letelier - Foreign Minister during Salvador Allende's government murdered during the Pinochet regime in Washington D.C.
- Gladys Marín - communist leader, feminist activistm, victim of repression during Pinochet dictatorship.
- Diego Portales - Minister, major designer of the Chilean State during the first half of 19th century
- Sebastián Piñera - businessman and politician; National Renewal candidate for presidency in 2005
- Laura Rodríguez - first Humanist Party deputy in the world
- Adolfo Zaldívar - Independent senator, former leader of the PDC.
- Andrés Zaldívar - ex PDC senator, brother to Adolfo
Religious figures
Sports
Scientists
Television personalities
Writers
- Isabel Allende - novelist (The House of Spirits)
- Roberto Ampuero - novelist (Cayetano Brulé series)
- Roberto Bolaño - novelist (The Savage Detectives)
- Francisco Coloane - (Tierra del fuego)
- José Donoso - (Coronation)
- Ariel Dorfman - novelist, playwright (Death and the Maiden), academic, essayist, journalist and human rights activist
- Jorge Edwards - 1999 Cervantes Prize winner
- Alberto Fuguet - novelist, short story writer Mala Onda, Las películas de mi vida, and filmmaker Se Arrienda
- Alberto Blest Gana - novelist
- Vicente Huidobro - poet
- Cristián Huneeus - writer
- Enrique Lafourcade - novelist
- Hernán Rivera Letelier - novelist (Santa María de las Flores Negras, La Reina Isabel Cantaba Rancheras), poet and writer of short stories.
- Gabriela Mistral - poetry, first Latin American Nobel Prize winner in literature.
- Pablo Neruda - poet, Nobel Prize winner in literature, often considered the greatest of all Spanish-language poets.
- Antonio Skármeta - author of Ardiente Paciencia ("Burning Patience") which inspired the movie Il Postino (The Postman) about poet Pablo Neruda.
- Luis Sepúlveda - novelist
- Sergio Vodanović - playwright
Architects
Others
- Agustin Huneeus - respected vintner that was a pioneer in Chile and was awarded the Wine Spectator's Service Award, their highest honor.
- Carlos Kaiser - former National Director of de National Found of Disabilities
- Claudio Grossman - chairman of the Human Rights Interamerican Court
- Themo Lobos - comic artist
- Rene Ríos Boettiger (Pepo) - comic artist (Condorito)
- Juan Somavia - Director-General of the International Labour Organization
- Arturo Valenzuela - former White House adviser to President Clinton
- José Miguel Vivanco - executive director, Human Rights Watch Americas Division (Latin America and the Caribbean)
- Andrónico Luksic - chairman of Quiñenco Holdings, which owns Banco de Chile, Antofagasta Minerals, one of the largest Chilean financial groups.
- Ricardo Claro - lawyer and businessman, link to Megavisión, a TV station, Claro & Cia, law firm, and Compañía Sudamericana de Vapores, a shipping line.
- Catalina de los Rios y Lisperguer, La Quintrala, aristocratic and sadistic landowner and witch during the Colonial Period.
See also