Carlos Davila

Carlos Gregorio Dávila Espinoza (September 15, 1887 - October 19, 1955), was a Chilean political figure, Chairman of Government Junta of Chile in 1932, and Secretary General of the Organization of American States from 1954 until his death in 1955.

Early life

Dávila was born in Los Ángeles, Chile to Luis Dávila<!--disambiguation--> and Emilia Espinoza. He graduated from the University of Santiago, Chile (then called School of Arts and Crafts) in 1907. In 1911, he entered Law School at the University of Chile, but dropped out three years later to work for newspaper “El Mercurio”, of Santiago. He left that paper in 1917 to establish “La Nación” of the same city, which he directed until 1927. In 1932, he founded the Chilean magazine, “Hoy”.

Political career

From 1927 to 1931, Dávila served as Chilean Ambassador to the United States. In 1929, he received an honorary LL.D. from Columbia University, and another the same year from the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles.

In 1932 Dávila was a member of the Government Junta and for several months provisional President of Chile. In 1933, Dávila was visiting Professor of International Law at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, under the auspices of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Later he came to the United States and was associated for many years with the Editors’ Press Service, and acted as correspondent for numerous important South American newspapers. In 1941...
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