Patricio Aylwin Azócar was born on November 26, 1918, and died on April 19, 2016.
He was a Chilean Christian Democrat politician, lawyer, author, professor and former senator.
Patricio Aylwin was the first president of Chile after democracy was restored in 1990.
His involvement in politics started in 1945, when he joined the Falange Nacional.
Then, Aylwin was elected president of the Falange in 1950 and 1951.
However, that party became the Christian Democrats, he served seven terms as its president between 1958 and 1989.
He was elected president of the Republic on December 14, 1989.
During his government, the numbers of Chileans living in poverty significantly decreased, with a United Nations report estimating that the percentage of the population living in poverty had fallen from around 40% of the population in 1989 to around 33% by 1993.
Even thou, he left office in 1994, he continued his lifelong commitment to promoting justice.
In 1995, Aylwin was the catalyst for a United Nations summit on poverty.
Aylwin served as the was president of the Corporation for Democracy and Justice, a non-profit organization he founded to develop approaches to eliminating poverty and to strengthen ethical values in politics.
He gained honorary degrees from universities in Australia, Canada, Colombia, France, Italy, Japan, Portugal, Spain, and the United States, as well as seven Chilean universities.
During the year 1997, the Council of Europe awarded the North-South Prize to Aylwin and Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland, for their contributions to fostering human rights, democracy, and cooperation between Europe and Latin America.
Patricio Aylwin passed away at 97 yrs old.