Manuel Bulnes (25 December 1799-18 October 1866) was President of Chile from 18 September 1841 to 18 September 1851, succeeding Jose Joaquin Prieto and preceding Manuel Montt. He was a leader of the Conservative Party of Chile.
Biography[]
Manuel Bulnes Prieto was born in Concepcion, Chile on 25 December 1799, and he was imprisoned by the Spanish authorities at the age of 16 for siding with the Patriots during the Chilean War of Independence. He went on to serve under Jose de San Martin as a colonel throughout the war, and he temporarily conquered the Mapuche from 1820 to 1823. He went on to fight in the War of the Confederation from 1838 to 1839, defeating the confederation between Peru and Bolivia. Bulnes was elected President in 1841, serving for ten years; he persuaded foreign intellectuals to come to Chile, established several junior schools, founded the University of Chile in 1842, amnestied the participants in the Chilean Civil War of 1829, and encouraged German refugees from the Revolutions of 1848 to settle southern Chile. He died in 1866.