Víctor Pey

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Pey at age 100 in 2015

Víctor Pey Casado (31 August 1915 – 5 October 2018) was a Spanish-born Chilean engineer, professor and businessman.

He was born in Madrid, the son of writer and priest , and Manuela Casado, from Valladolid.[1] At the age of two, he moved with his family to Barcelona. During the Spanish Civil War, he fought on the Republican side and was a member to the Durruti Column. He formed part of the Spanish government in exile as a technical advisor to the War Industries Commission of Catalonia. He crossed the Pyrenees into France on 25 January 1939, was interned by French authorities and sent to a prison camp at Perpignan.[2] In September 1939, Pablo Neruda arranged that Pey and his family board the SS Winnipeg for Chile.[3]

After arriving in Santiago, he found work as a surveyor, together with the engineer José Saitúa, who was in charge of the construction of an aqueduct between Laguna Negra and Santiago.[4] Pey became a naturalized Chilean citizen and worked with his brother Raúl in an engineering company. Pey met Salvador Allende during a party hosted by , editor of La Hora newspaper. When Allende became President in 1970, Pey became an advisor to the Popular Unity government and was one of his closest associates.[5] He purchased the newspaper El Clarín during Allende's presidency, which became the largest newspaper in Chile.[6] After the Pinochet dictatorship was imposed in 1973, El Clarín was shut down. Pey was persecuted by the military junta and went into exile, not returning until the 1990s.[3]

In 1997, Pey initiated a lawsuit against the Chilean government in the World Bank Tribunal for the expropriation of his newspaper. Successive Chilean administrations held the position of not paying Pey. After a 19-year legal battle, the case was dismissed without Pey receiving any damages.[3]

Pey identified as an agnostic.[2] He was named honorary rector of the University of Chile in 2015, coinciding with his centenary. He died of natural causes on 5 October 2018, aged 103.[5]

References[]

  1. ^ Galvez, Julio (2014). Winnipeg: Testimonios de un exilio. Renacimiento. p. 288. ISBN 978-84-16246-00-7.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Ekaiser, Ernesto (29 August 2015). "Víctor cumple 100 años". El Pais. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Adiós a un histórico en un día emblemático: a los 103 años fallece Víctor Pey, dueño de El Clarín". El Mostrador. 5 October 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
  4. ^ Galvez 2014, p. 307
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b "Murió Víctor Pey a los 103 años: El adiós a un sobreviviente de la guerra civil española, fundador del Clarín y colaborador de Salvador Allende". El Desconcierto. 5 October 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
  6. ^ "Muere en Chile a los 103 años Víctor Pey, refugiado español amigo de Allende". El Diario. 6 October 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
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