This is a list of Chileans who are famous or notable.

Economists

• Ricardo J. Caballero – MIT professor, Department of Economics

• Sebastián Edwards – UCLA professor, former World Bank officer (1993–1996), prolific author and media personality

• Alejandro Foxley – Chile's first Finance Minister after the return of democracy in 1990 and an engineer of the country's economic miracle during democracy; former Foreign Affairs minister, and former Chilean Senator for East kakarackoj

• Manfred Max Neef – Right Livelihood Award winner, presidential candidate, member of the Club of Rome, former president of the Universidad Austral

• José Piñera – implemented the privatization of the Chilean pension system under Pinochet

• Andrés Velasco – Sumitomo Professor of International Finance and Development in the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University; Finance Minister during Bachelet's administration

• Karen Soto – Lab Technician, Department of Histology, Currently in Australia

Military

• Manuel Baquedano – general of the Chilean forces during the War of the Pacific

• Philip Bazaar – recipient of the US Navy Medal of Honour

• José Miguel Carrera – first Commander-in-Chief of the Chilean Army and Independence leader of the Patria Vieja

• Luis Carrera – Chilean military officer in the War of Independence

• Ignacio Carrera Pinto – captain in charge of the Chilean patrol who died in Battle of La Concepción

• Carlos Condell – captain of the Covadonga ship at the Iquique Naval Combat

• Manuel Contreras – head of Augusto Pinochet's National Intelligence Directorate (DINA)

• Manuel Hipólito Orella – sailor who was one of the first midshipman of the Chilean Navy

• Patricio Lynch – governor of Lima during the Chilean occupation of Lima, Perú, during the War of the Pacific

• Juan MacKenna – Irish-born organizer of O'Higgins's Army

• Bernardo O'Higgins – founder of modern Chile

• Arturo Prat – captain of the Esmeralda ship at the Iquique Naval Combat; regarded as a national hero

• Luis Pardo – also known as Piloto Pardo, Chilean Navy captain who rescued the survivors of the Shackleton expedition

• Sofanor Parra – officer of the cavalry branch of the Chilean Army who fought in almost all the military actions of the War of the Pacific

• Juan de Quiroga y Apablaza – military figure

• Manuel Rodríguez – Independence leader and guerrilla leader during the Reconquista

• Eleuterio Ramírez – officer, hero of the War of the Pacific

• José Ignacio Zenteno – lieutenant Colonel of the Army of the Andes, Minister of War and Marine in the O'Higgins government

Musicians

• Los Abandoned – alternative rock band

• Altazores – rock band founded in 2004 by Mauricio Herrera

• Américo – cumbia chilena singer

• Tom Araya – singer/bassist for thrash metal band Slayer

• Daniela Aleuy - singer and songwriter

• Claudio Arrau – classical piano player

• FloyyMenor – reggaeton singer

• Cris MJ – reggaeton singer

• Paloma Mami – reggaeton singer

• Germán Casas – 1960s singer

• Beto Cuevas – lead singer from rock group La Ley

• Alvaro Estrella – pop singer

• Luis 'Lucho' Gatica – bolero singer

• Eduardo Gatti – a leading composer of modern Chilean music

• Jorge González – controversial lead singer and songwriter of historic Chilean rock band Los Prisioneros

• Luis "Checho" González – folklore composer, born in Iquique

• Rodrigo González – bassist and singer of the German band die Ärzte

• Alberto Guerrero – Chilean–Canadian composer, pianist, and teacher

• Myriam Hernández – popular music singer

• Alicia Ika – native Rapa Nui actress, musician, songwriter, surf instructor and tourist agent. Star in 180 Degrees South: Conquerors of the Useless (2010).

• Pascuala Ilabaca – singer-songwriter

• Inti-Illimani – pioneers of the nueva canción chilena movement; known communists and "pro-democracy" activists in exile during Pinochet dictatorship

• Isleña Antumalen – Huilliche singer, rapper, and activist

• Víctor Jara – Chilean folk singer and theatrical director; political activist; communist

• Alain Johannes – Chilean-born musician, songwriter, sound engineer; best known as founding member of Alternative Rock American band Eleven

• Oscar Lopez senior latin guitarists musician, born in Santiago

• Rafael Manríquez – nueva canción musician

• Javiera Mena – Indie electropop musician

• DJ Méndez – urban music producer

• Mon Laferte – singer-songwriter

• El Monteaguilino – Cueca composer, born in Monte Águila

• La Noche – cumbia chilena band

• Chañaral Ortega-Miranda – contemporary composer

• Ángel Parra – folk musician (nueva canción); son of Violeta Parra

• Isabel Parra – folk musician; daughter of Violeta Parra

• Javiera Parra – lead singer from group Javiera y los Imposibles

• Violeta Parra – Chilean folk singer

• Antonio Prieto – singer and actor known in English for "The Bride" or "The Wedding" song

• Quilapayún – nueva canción ensemble, supporters of Popular Unity (UP) coalition during presidency of Salvador Allende

• Leo Rey – cumbia chilena singer

• Alejandro Silva – heavy metal guitar player

• Saiko – pop rock band

• Clara Solovera (1909–1992) – songwriter, born in Santiago

• Esther Soré (1915–1996) – 1940s singer, born in Santiago

• Fernando Ubiergo – folk singer-songwriter (Chilean folk), born in Valparaíso

• Francisca Valenzuela – singer-songwriter

• Ricardo Villalobos – minimal techno artist

• Verónica Villarroel – soprano

• Ramón Vinay – tenor

Artists

• Claudio Bravo (1936–2011) – hyper-realist painter

• Carlos Catasse – painter

• Marta Colvin – sculptor

• Alfredo Jaar – installation artist, filmmaker and architect

• Olga Lehmann – painter

• Roberto Matta – painter, sculptor

• Camilo Mori – painter

• Dora Puelma – artist

• Carlos Sotomayor – cubist painter

• Miguel Venegas – painter, called "El Maestro" (the Master)

Politicians

• Juana Rosa Aguirre – former first lady, wife of Pedro Aguirre Cerda

• Arturo Alessandri – served twice as president of Chile

• Jorge Alessandri – 27th President of Chile; President of Council of State under Pinochet Regime

• Salvador Allende – former senator and president of Chile; ousted in a military coup

• Clodomiro Almeyda – socialist politician

• Soledad Alvear – former Justice minister and Foreign minister; current PDC senator

• Celinda Arregui – feminist politician, writer, teacher, suffrage activist

• Gabriel Boric first youth leader politician of Chile

• Michelle Bachelet – first woman president of Chile

• Juan Chandía – governor of for 1946–1952

• Carlos Dávila – former Secretary General of the Organization of American States

• Florencio Durán – former president of the senate

• Héctor Faúndez – diplomat

• Fernando Flores – businessman and former senator

• Gabriel González Videla – 25th President of Chile (1946-1952)

• Jaime Guzmán – right wing politician during the Pinochet regime; murdered by Manuel Rodríguez Patriotic Front on April 1, 1991; former UDI Senator

• Tomás Hirsch – former president of the Humanist Party of Chile; 2005 candidate for president

• Antonia Illanes – lawyer and politician

• José Miguel Insulza – former Interior minister; current Secretary General of the Organization of American States

• José Antonio Kast — president of the Republican Party, former deputy and councilman, presidential candidate in 2017 and in 2021.

• Carlos Keller – former Leader of the National Socialist Movement of Chile, responsible for the organization of the Seguro Obrero Massacre

• Joaquín Lavín – Independent Democratic Union candidate for presidency in 2005 election; former mayor of Las Condes and Santiago

• Orlando Letelier – Foreign Minister during Salvador Allende's government murdered during the Pinochet regime in Washington, D.C.

• Gladys Marín – communist leader, feminist activist, lived in exile, opposed conservatism and liberal economy, admirer of Lenin and Marx

• Raúl Morales Beltramí – politician and physician

• Herman Chadwick Piñera – Chilean lawyer, businessman, trade union leader and politician

• Sebastián Piñera – Chilean billionaire, businessman and politician; former President of Chile

• Aníbal Pinto – 9th President of Chile (1876-1881)

• Augusto Pinochet – Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Chile, President of the Government Junta of Chile, dictator from 1973 until 1990 and President from 1981 onwards.

• Diego Portales – Minister, major designer of the Chilean State during the first half of the 19th century

• Juan Antonio Ríos (1888–1946) – Chilean lawyer, political figure and 24th President of Chile

• Laura Rodríguez – first Humanist Party deputy in the world

• Jennifer Rojas – social worker and politician

• Camila Vallejo – Member of Parliament, led 2011 student protests in Chile

• Adolfo Zaldívar – PRI senator, former leader of the PDC

• Andrés Zaldívar – former PDC senator

• Herminia Colihueque, Mapuche first woman to run in an election for a political office

Religious figures

• Rodolfo Acevedo – Mormon bishop

• Saint Teresa de los Andes – first Chilean saint

• Carlos Camus – Chilean bishop

• Francisco Javier Errázuriz – fourth Chilean cardinal

• Juan Francisco Fresno – third Chilean cardinal

• Raúl Silva Henríquez – second Chilean cardinal born in Talca; human rights advocate

• Alberto Hurtado – saint

• Jorge Medina – fifth Chilean cardinal; conservative figure

• Fr. Juan Ignacio Molina – Chilean priest, naturalist, historian, botanist, ornithologist, geographer

• José María Caro Rodríguez – first Chilean cardinal

• Francisco Javier Quintanilla – theologian

• Juan Subercaseaux Errázuriz – Chilean Roman Catholic Archbishop

• José María Vélaz – Chilean priest

• Blessed Laura Vicuña

Sports

• Omar Aguilar – long-distance runner

• Marlene Ahrens – javelin thrower; Olympic silver medalist

• Fernando Alvarez – jockey

• David Arellano – football player; namesake of Colo-Colo's stadium

• Luis Ayala – tennis player; twice French Open finalist

• Gonzalo Barrios – eSports player

• Claudio Bravo – football player, FC Barcelona

• Ben Brereton – football player

• Nick Carle – football player, Sydney FC

• Patricio Castañeda – football player

• Carlos Caszely – football player

• Patricio Cornejo – tennis player, 1976 Davis Cup finalist

• Cristián Garay – football referee

• Cristian Garín – tennis player, winner of 4 ATP titles

• Carlo de Gavardo – KTM rally motorcyclist

• Elías Figueroa – football player; three times elected as Best Football Player of America

• Jaime Fillol – tennis player, 1976 Davis Cup finalist

• Arturo Godoy – boxer, fought Joe Louis twice for the World Heavyweight title

• Fernando González – tennis player; only Chilean to win gold, silver and bronze medals at the Summer Olympics

• Tomás González – gymnast, Olympic finalist

• Juan Halty – former professional footballer

• Kai Horwitz (born 1998) – Olympic alpine skier

• Luis Jiménez (born 1987) – footballer

• Benjamín Kuscevic – football player

• Alberto Larraguibel – horse rider, record for puissance (high jump) on horseback

• Sergio Sapo Livingstone – Chilean football goalkeeper

• Anita Lizana – tennis player; 1937 US Open champion; first Latin American, and first Hispanic person, to be ranked World Number 1 in tennis

• Nicolás Massú (born 1979) – tennis player; highest world ranking #9, Olympic 2-time champion (singles and doubles)

• Carlos Moreno – track and field sprinter

• Iván Morovic – chess International Grandmaster

• Isidora Niemeyer – rower

• Érika Olivera – marathon runner; gold medal winner in women's marathon at the 1999 Pan American Games

• Andrés Parada - footballer

• Manuel Pellegrini – former footballer for Universidad de Chile, former manager of Real Madrid

• Alejandra Ramos – middle-distance runner

• Monica Regonesi – long-distance runner

• Sammis Reyes – basketball and American football player; first Chilean to play in the NFL

• Fernando Riera – Chile's most successful soccer coach; led the national team to a third-place finish in the 1962 World Cup

• Marcelo Ríos – first Latin American man to become world number-one tennis player

• Eduardo Robledo – football player, Newcastle United F.C.

• Jorge Robledo – player, Newcastle United F.C.

• Jose Romero – AFL player, Western Bulldogs

• Sebastián Rozental (born 1976) - professional soccer player

• Bayron Saavedra (born 1997) – footballer

• Marcelo Salas – football player; holds the record for most goals playing for the national team; won titles with every team he played with

• Eliseo Salazar – race car driver, competed in Formula One intermittently from 1980–1982, moved to Champ Car and the Indy Racing League

• Alexis Sánchez – football player, Sevilla

• Leonel Sánchez – football player, 1962 World Cup top scorer

• José A. Santos – jockey, winner of US Triple Crown

• Alejandro Silva – long-distance runner

• Pablo Squella – middle-distance runner

• José Sulantay – Chile's second most successful soccer coach, led the under 20 national team to a third-place finish at the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada

• Emilio Ulloa – long-distance runner

• Dion Valle – football player, Marconi Stallions FC

• Rodrigo Vargas – football player, Melbourne Victory FC

• Stephanie Vaquer - professional wrestler; first Chilean and South American woman to win WWE Women's Championship

• Arturo Vidal – football player, Colo-Colo

• Gert Weil – shot putter

• Iván Zamorano – football player

Scientists and engineers

• Ricardo Baeza Rodríguez – mathematician

• Ricardo Baeza-Yates – computer scientist

• Isabel Behncke - primatologist

• Erik Bongcam-Rudloff – bioinformatician

• Claudio Bunster – physicist

• Marcela Contreras – immunologist

• F. J. Duarte – laser physicist

• Matias Duarte – software inventor

• Julio M. Fernandez – biologist, academic

• Eric Goles – mathematician

• Mario Hamuy – cosmologist and astronomer

• Cesar A. Hidalgo – physicist

• Cecilia Hidalgo Tapia – biochemist

• Adriana Hoffmann – botanist, Environment Minister (2000–2001)

• Paula Jofré – astronomer and astrophysicist

• Humberto Maturana – biologist, co-author of the theory of autopoiesis

• Juan Ignacio Molina – 18th and 19th-century natural scientist

• Hermann Niemeyer – paediatrician and biochemist

• Ernestina Pérez Barahona, physician

• María Teresa Ruiz – astronomer

• Elisa Torres Durney - outstanding quantum student

• Gunther Uhlmann - mathematician

• Pablo DT Valenzuela – biotechnologist, co-founder of Chiron Corporation and Fundacion Ciencias Para la Vida

• Francisco Varela – biologist, co-author of the theory of autopoiesis

Film and television personalities

• Alejandro Amenábar - film director, screenwriter and composer

• Cecilia Amenábar - actress, TV presenter and model

• Cecilia Bolocco - TV presenter, journalist and former Miss Universe

• Diana Bolocco - TV presenter and journalist

• Gabriela Bussenius - journalist, writer and filmmaker

• Santiago Cabrera - actor

• Felipe Camiroaga - TV presenter

• Charissa Chamorro - actress

• Martín Cárcamo - TV presenter

• Karen Doggenweiler - TV presenter

• Julián Elfenbein - radio and TV presenter

• Pablo Francisco - comedian, actor and writer

• Cristián de la Fuente - actor and model

• Alberto Fuguet - film director, author, journalist and film critic

• Jorge Garcia - actor and comedian

• Paulina García - actress

• Luis Gatica - actor

• Claudia di Girolamo - actress

• Luis Gnecco - actor

• Magdalena Grant - TV presenter and sports journalist

• Lisa Guerrero - journalist, TV presenter, actress and model

• Patricio Guzmán - film director

• Alejandro Jodorowsky - filmmaker

• Mario Kreutzberger (Don Francisco) – TV presenter

• Pablo Larraín - film director

• Sebastián Lelio - film director and screenwriter

• Ariel Levy - actor

• Carolina Mestrovic - TV presenter and actress

• Claudio Miranda - cinematographer

• Cristina Montt - actress

• Cote de Pablo - actress

• Pedro Pascal - actor

• Carlos Pinto - TV presenter and journalist

• Nicole Polizzi – reality TV Personality

• Antonio Prieto - actor and singer

• Francisco Puelles - actor and TV personality

• Francisco Reyes Morandé - actor

• Raúl Ruiz - film director

• Katherine Salosny - TV presenter and actress

• Horatio Sanz - actor and comedian

• Fernando Solis - radio and TV presenter

• Tonka Tomicic - TV presenter and model

• Catalina Vallejos - actress and model

• Leonor Varela - actress and model

• Daniela Vega - actress

• Gabriela Velasco – actress and television presenter

• Benjamín Vicuña - actor

• Alexander Witt - filmmaker

• Andrés Wood - film director and screenwriter

Writers

• Lorenzo Aillapán – poet

• Fernando Alegría – writer

• Isabel Allende – novelist (The House of Spirits)

• Roberto Ampuero – novelist (Cayetano Brulé series)

• Roberto Bolaño – novelist (The Savage Detectives, 2666)

• Liborio Brieba – writer

• Francisco Coloane – (Tierra del fuego)

• Angel Cruchaga Santa Maria (1893–1964) – writer, won the Chilean National Prize for Literature in 1948

• Ariel Florencia Richards (1981—) – writer and researcher of the visual arts

• Eugenio Cruz Vargas (1923–2014) – poet and painter, of Basque descent

• Francisco Núñez de Pineda y Bascuñán – writer of Cautiverio feliz y razón individual de las guerras dilatadas del Reino de Chile in 1673

• Pablo de Rokha – Chilean National Prize for Literature in 1965

• José Donoso – writer (Coronation, The Obscene Bird of Night)

• Ariel Dorfman – novelist, playwright (Death and the Maiden), academic, essayist, journalist and human rights activist

• Jorge Edwards – 1999 Cervantes Prize winner

• Alberto Fuguet – novelist; short story writer, Mala Onda, Las películas de mi vida; filmmaker, Se Arrienda

• Alberto Blest Gana – novelist (Martín Rivas)

• Olga Grau - philosopher

• Juan Guzman Cruchaga (1895–1979) – poet and diplomat, won the Chilean National Prize for Literature in 1962; of Basque descent

• Óscar Hahn – writer and poet

• Vicente Huidobro – father of the "Creationism" movement in Paris

• Cristián Huneeus – writer

• Enrique Lafourcade – novelist

• Hernán Rivera Letelier – novelist (Santa María de las Flores Negras, La Reina Isabel Cantaba Rancheras), poet, writer of short stories

• Enrique Lihn – poet, playwright, and novelist

• Carmen Marai – novelist El Alba de la Mandrágora (The Dawn of the Mandrake), poet, writer of short stories

• Sergio Missana – novelist

• Gabriela Mistral – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature

• Nicolasa Montt – poet

• Tomás Moulian – political scientist and sociologist

• Pablo Neruda – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature

• Raquel Olea – writer, professor

• Nicanor Parra – self-proclaimed "anti-poet"

• Adolfo Quiros – (1853–1910), poet

• Gonzalo Rojas – 2004 Cervantes Prize winner

• Elvira Santa Cruz Ossa – dramatist and novelist

• Luis Sepúlveda – novelist

• Antonio Skármeta – author of Ardiente Paciencia (Burning Patience), which inspired the movie Il Postino (The Postman), about poet Pablo Neruda

• Amelia Solar de Claro – poet, playwright, and essayist

• Mercedes Valdivieso – writer

• Sergio Vodanovic – playwright

Architects

• Alejandro Aravena – 2015 Pritzker Prize winner

• Guillermo Jullian de la Fuente

• Mathias Klotz – 2001 Borromini Prize of Architecture winner for under-40 architects

Others

• Raúl Aldunate Phillips – writer, politician, and soldier

• Cecilia Magni Camino – guerilla leader and sociologist

• Vanessa Ceruti – Miss Universe Chile 2011

• Nataly Chilet – Miss World Chile 2008

• Claudio Grossman – chairman of the Human Rights Interamerican Court

• Hil Hernández – Miss Earth 2006

• Immanuel Holger – soldier and politician

• Carolina Huidobro – teacher and suffragist

• Carlos Kaiser – former National Director of the National Fund for Disabilities

• Themo Lobos – comic artist

• Andrónico Luksic – chairman of Quiñenco Holdings, which owns Banco de Chile, Antofagasta Minerals, one of the largest Chilean financial groups

• La Quintrala – Catalina de los Ríos y Lisperguer, aristocratic and sadistic landowner and witch during the Colonial Period

• Rene Ríos Boettiger (Pepo) – comic artist (Condorito)

• Juana Ross Edwards (1830–1913) – philanthropist

• Sergio Saavedra (1927–2022) – engineer and politician

• Sola Sierra – human rights activist

• Juan Somavia – Director-General of the International Labour Organization

• Joaquín Toesca – designer of the presidential house "La Moneda", in Santiago

• Maria Jose Ubiergo – Chilean DREAMer in the United States, Story Featured in the New York Times; Family member to notable Chilean Folk Singer Fernando Ubiergo Her story has been featured in El Diario, ABC, and News 12 Connecticut, among other media outlets.

• Arturo Valenzuela – former Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs

• Bernardita Zúñiga – Miss World Chile 2007

• Sergio Catalán – first to discover crash survivors of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, and integral to rescuing all 16 remaining survivors

See also

• Chilean American

• Chilean Australian

• Chilean British

• List of people by nationality

References