Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Walker-Martinez, Carlos

WALKER-MARTINEZ, Carlos, Chilian poet, b. in Valparaiso in 1842. In September, 1865, he was studying law at the University of Chili, when war with Spain began, and he enlisted in the navy, participating in the engagement of Abtao, 7 Feb., 1866. In the same year he founded the literary magazine “La República Literaria,” at the head of which he remained while he was in Chili. He was appointed in 1867 secretary of the legation in Bolivia, was graduated in law in 1868, and travelled through Europe and the United States. On his return in 1870 he was elected to congress for the department of Vallenar, and became secretary of the chamber of deputies. In 1873 he was appointed chargé d'affaires of Chili in Bolivia, and in 1874 he became minister in the same republic. During the war of 1879-'80 he was president of the “Sociedad Protectora,” and in 1880-'2 he was an editor of the journal “El Nuevo Ferrocarril.” During the cholera epidemic of 1886-'7 he was founder and president of the Red Cross society. He is still a member of congress, where he is well known as a parliamentary orator. He has written “Páginas de viage” (Santiago, 1871); “Poesías líricas” (3 vols., 1872); “Romances Americanos” (2 vols., 1874); “Manuel Rodriguez,” a historic drama in verse (1874); “El Proscripto” (1875); and “Diego Portales” (1877).