MILITARY PERSONNELS from Chile

Top 2

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Chilean Military Personnels of all time. This list of famous Chilean Military Personnels is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Lautaro (1534 - 1557)

With an HPI of 58.16, Lautaro is the most famous Chilean Military Personnel.  His biography has been translated into 22 different languages on wikipedia.

Lautaro (Anglicized as 'Levtaru') (Mapudungun: Lef-Traru "swift hawk") (Spanish pronunciation: [lawˈtaɾo]; c. 1534 – April 29, 1557) was a young Mapuche toqui known for leading the indigenous resistance against Spanish conquest in Chile and developing the tactics that would continue to be employed by the Mapuche during the long-running Arauco War. Levtaru was captured by Spanish forces in his early youth, and he spent his teenage years as a personal servant of chief conquistador Pedro de Valdivia, but escaped in 1551. Back among his people he was declared toqui and led Mapuche warriors into a series of victories against the Spanish, culminating in the Battle of Tucapel in December 1553, where Pedro of Valdivia was killed. The outbreak of a typhus plague, a drought and a famine prevented the Mapuche from taking further actions to expel the Spanish in 1554 and 1555. Between 1556 and 1557, a small group of Mapuche commanded by Levtaru attempted to reach Santiago to liberate the whole of Central Chile from Spanish rule. Levtaru's attempts ended in 1557 when he was killed in an ambush by the Spanish. Today, Levtaru is revered among Mapuche and non-Mapuche Chileans for his resistance against foreign conquest, servitude and cruelty.

2. René Schneider (1913 - 1970)

With an HPI of 52.54, René Schneider is the 2nd most famous Chilean Military Personnel.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

General René Schneider Chereau (; December 31, 1913 – October 25, 1970) was the commander-in-chief of the Chilean Army at the time of the 1970 Chilean presidential election, when he was assassinated during a botched kidnapping attempt. He coined the doctrine of military-political mutual exclusivity that became known as the Schneider Doctrine.