Ramón Freire

Ramón Freire Serrano (November 29, 1787 – December 9, 1851) was a Chilean political figure. He was head of state on several occasions, and enjoyed a numerous following until the War of the Confederation. Ramón Freire was one of the principal leaders of the liberal Piopiolo movement and has been praised by historian Gabriel Salazar as the most democratic leader of the early republican period in Chile.

Early life

He was born in Santiago on November 29, 1787, the son of Francisco Antonio Freire y Paz and Gertrudis Serrano y Arrechea. An orphan from early age, he was raised in a hacienda by his maternal uncles near the town of Colina. He became an orphan again at age 16, and moved to the city of Concepción where he worked as a clerk in a store, and later as an apprentice in a merchant ship.

War of Independence

At the beginning of the independence struggle in 1810, he became actively involved in the public meetings that accompanied the establishment of the first Junta. In 1811, he became a cadet of the Dragones de la Frontera, and participated in the battles of Huilquilemu, Talcahuano, El Roble and El Quilo during the Chilean War of Independence.