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

See also Category:Chilean people.

Economists

• Hernán Büchi - Columbia University trained economist. Minister of Economy during Pinochet government. The father of the country's economic miracle.
• 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
• Sebastián Edwards - UCLA professor, former World Bank officer (1993-1996), prolific author and media personality
• Eduardo Aninat - finance minister during Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle presidential period. Former Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (1999-2003).
• Ricardo Caballero - MIT professor, Department of Economics.
• Carlos Noton - UC Berkeley PhD Student.

Filmmakers

• Alejandro Amenábar - Chilean/Spanish director (Tesis (or Snuff), Open Your Eyes, The Others)
• Silvio Caiozzi - (Julio Begins in July , The Moon in the Mirror , Coronation)
• Patricio Guzmán - Documentarian (The Battle of Chile )
• Ricardo Larraín - (The Frontier, Enthusiasm)
• Miguel Littin - (Jackal of Nahueltoro , Sandino, Tierra del Fuego )
• Alejandro Jodorowsky - Director (The Holy Mountain, El Topo , Santa Sangre), actor, and writer
• Raúl (Raoul) Ruiz - (White Dove , Genealogies of a Crime , Time Regained ) Resides in France
• Alexander Witt - Director ()
• Andrés Wood - (Machuca)

Heads of State

See: List of Presidents of Chile.

Military

• Caupolicán - Leader of the Araucanian who fiercely resisted the Spanish conquest of Chile
• Lautaro - Araucanian military leader during the Spanish conquest of Chile
• Bernardo O'Higgins - Founder of modern Chile
• José Miguel Carrera - Independentist leader of the Patria Vieja.
• Manuel Rodríguez - Independentist leader and guerrilla leader during the Reconquista.
• Augusto Pinochet - Military dictator from 1973 to 1990
• Arturo Prat - Captain of the Esmeralda ship at the Iquique Naval Combat; regarded as national hero
• Ignacio Carrera Pinto - Captain in charge of the Chilean patrol who died in La Concepción Battle .

Musicians

• Memo Aguirre - Singer
• Tom Araya - Singer/Bassist for rock group Slayer
• Claudio Arrau - Classical piano player
• Roberto Bravo - Classical piano player
• German Casas - singer
• Beto Cuevas - Lead singer from rock group La Ley
• Tito Fernández - Folklorist; known as El Temucano
• Luis 'Lucho' Gatica - Bolero singer
• Eduardo Gatti - One of the leading composers of modern Chilean music
• Myriam Hernández - Popular music singer
• Víctor Jara - Singer-songwriter, killed by the Pinochet regime in 1973
• DJ Méndez - Rap singer (resides in Sweden)
• 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
• Palmenia Pizarro - Bolero singer (resides in Mexico)
• Buddy Richards - Bolero singer
• Verónica Villarroel - Soprano
• Sebastian Santa Maria - Jazz music player/singer

Performers

• Tamara Acosta - Actress
• Leonor Varela - Actress (Blade II, The Man in the Iron Mask)
• Gloria Münchmeyer - Actress (The Moon in the Mirror)

Plastic Artists

• Roberto Matta - Painter, sculptor
• Claudio Bravo - Hyper-realism painter

Poets

• Vicente Huidobro
• Enrique Lihn
• Gabriela Mistral - Winner of the Nobel prize for literature
• Pablo Neruda - Winner of the Nobel prize for literature
• Nicanor Parra - So-called anti-poet
• Gonzalo Rojas - 2004 Cervantes Prize winner
• Pablo de Rokha

Politicians

• Clodomiro Almeyda
• Soledad Alvear
• Michelle Bachelet
• Fernando Flores
• Ramón Freire
• José Miguel Insulza - Chile's current Interior Minister.
• Joaquín Lavín
• Orlando Letelier - Foreign minister during Salvador Allende's government murdered by the Pinochet regime in New York.
• Gladys Marín

Religious figures

• Father Alberto Hurtado - Was the second person in Chile to be beatified, in 1993.
• Saint Teresa of the Andes
• Laura Vicuña
• Cardinal Raúl Silva Henríquez
• Cardinal Juan Francisco Fresno
• Fray Camilo Henríquez

Sports

• Marlene Ahrens - Athlete; Olympic silver medalist
• Luis Ayala - Tennis player; twice French Open finalist
• Carlos Caszely - Association football player
• Patricio Cornejo - Tennis player, 1976 Davis Cup Finalist
• Carlo de Gavardo - KTM rally motorcyclist.
• Patricia Demick - Chile's first world boxing champion.
• Elías Figueroa - Association 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; he and Massú gave Chile its first Olympic gold medal
• Sergio Sapo Livingstone - Chilean goalkeeper
• Anita Lizana - Tennis player; 1937 US Open champion
• Nicolás Massú - Tennis player; two-time Olympic gold medalist
• Iván Morovic - Chess International Grandmaster
• Érika Olivera - Athlete; gold medal winner in women's marathon at the 1999 Pan American Games
• Marcelo Ríos - First Latin American man to become world number-one tennis player
• Marcelo Salas - Association football player
• José Santos - Jockey, winner of US Triple Crown
• Martín Vargas - Boxer, arguably the most famous boxer in Chile's history
• Iván Zamorano - Association football player

Scientists

• Humberto Maturana - Biologist, co-author of the theory of Autopoiesis
• Francisco Varela - Biologist, co-author of the theory of Autopoiesis.
• Eric Goles - Mathematician
• Claudio Teitelboim - Physicist
• María Teresa Ruiz - Astronomer

Television personalities

• Cecilia Bolocco - Ex-Miss Universe, wife of ex-president of Argentina Carlos Menem
• Gonzalo Cáceres - Anchor man for Spanish Deutsche Welle
• Amaro Gómez-Pablos - CNN en Español correspondent. Also a local anchorman for TVN's news program 24 Horas
• Mario Kreutzberger (Don Francisco) - Host of television show Sábado Gigante
• Lucía Newman - CNN senior correspondent
• Antonio Vodanovic - former Viña del Mar International Festival host

Writers

• Isabel Allende - Novelist (The House of Spirits)
• Roberto Ampuero - Novelist (Cayetano Brulé series)
• Roberto Bolaño - Novelist (The Wild Detectives )
• Francisco Coloane - (Tierra del fuego)
• José Donoso - (Coronation)
• Ariel Dorfman - Novelist, playwright (Death and the Maiden), essayist, journalist and human rights activist
• Jorge Edwards - 1999 Cervantes Prize winner
• Luis Sepúlveda - Novelist
• Antonio Skármeta - Author of Ardiente Paciencia which inspired the movie Il Postino (The Postman) about poet Pablo Neruda

Other

• Borja Huidobro - Architect
• José Miguel Vivanco - Executive director, Human Rights Watch Americas Division (Latin America and the Caribbean)
• Juan Somavia - Director-General of the International Labour Organization
• Waleska Daroch - President, Walkom-Media.com

See also

• List of people by nationality