ABSTRACT
Luis Emilio Recabarren’s (1876–1924) life parallels the start and demise of the Nitrate Era (1980–1930). His active political life began shortly after the Civil War (1891) and the death of President Balmaceda (1886–1891) and ended in 1924, when the exploitation of nitrates in Chile was coming to an end. Although not an educator in a formal sense of the word, his image as the educator of the working class he came from and helped organize has remained in time (Alegría, 1968; Furci, 1984; Lafertte, 1971; Loyola Tapia, 2000; Massardo, 2008; Witker Velásquez, 1977).
