Manuel Bulnes

Manuel Bulnes Prieto was born on December 25, 1799, in Concepción. Fighting in the War of Independence from age twelve, Bulnes rose to become Commander of the Chilean Expeditionary Army, achieving decisive victory over Andrés de Santa Cruz at the Battle of Yungay on January 20, 1839, dissolving the Peru-Bolivian Confederation.

Elected President in 1841, Bulnes presided over an intellectual and economic golden age: establishing the University of Chile under Andrés Bello in 1842, claiming sovereign possession of the Strait of Magellan with Fuerte Bulnes in 1843, building the first telegraph lines and railways, and welcoming foreign naturalists like Claudio Gay and Charles Darwin.