Germán Riesco

Germán Riesco Errázuriz was a Chilean lawyer and politician who served as President of Chile from 1901 to 1906. Born in Rancagua in 1854, he worked as a judicial clerk and became clerk of the Supreme Court before turning to private practice. Elected senator for Talca in 1900, he was put forward by the Liberal Alliance after the sudden death of President Federico Errázuriz Echaurren and won by a large majority despite clerical opposition. His presidency was marked by a divided parliament that forced him to appoint seventeen different governments. As a former jurist he concentrated on legal reform, including the 1902 Code of Civil Procedure and a Code of Penal Procedure, and he also built a new Supreme Court building and expanded secondary education, especially for women.