August 10, 1813: Instituto Nacional founded

On this day in 1813, Chilean patriot José Miguel Carrera founded the Instituto Nacional, making it the oldest school in the country.

Carrera was born in 1785 to one of the top families in Chile. He attended school in Spain, and joined the Spanish Army to fight in the Napoleonic Wars.

In 1810, Napoleon overthrew Spanish King Ferdinand VII; this threw Spain’s overseas holdings into disarray, as they didn’t feel the need to listen to the new king, José (Napoleon’s older brother Joseph). Chile was soon ruled by a military junta and Carrera returned to Chile, where his family was able to overthrow the junta and install Carrera as president of the governing council.

Ferdinand VII was reinstalled in 1813, and he sent forces to quell any possibility of independence in South America. Carrera was defeated in October 1814, and spent time in exile in Uruguay and Argentina. During his time in Buenos Aires, he helped establish the Argentine republic, and in 1818 Chile declared independence.

Attempting to get back to Chile, Carrera was captured and subsequently executed in 1821 at the age of 35.

Image: Miguel Venegas Cifuentes (1907–1979). Posthumous portrait of Chilean General José Miguel Carrera (1950).