Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Balmaceda, José Manuel

BALMACEDA, JOSÉ MANUEL, a Chilean statesman, born in 1840; early distinguished as a political orator; advocated in Congress separation of Church and State; as Premier, in 1884, introduced civil marriage; elected President in 1886. A conflict with the Congressional party, provoked by his alleged cruelties and official dishonesty, and advocacy of the claim of Signor Vicuna as his legally elected successor, resulted in Balmaceda's overthrow and suicide in 1891.