Fernando Matthei
| Fernando Matthei | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Birth name | Fernando Matthei Aubel |
| Born |
11 July 1925 Osorno, Chile |
| Allegiance |
 Chile
|
| Service/branch | Chilean Air Force |
| Years of service | 1946 - 1991 |
| Rank | Air General 
|
| Commands held | 2nd Aviation Group(1963-67) First Air Brigade(1970-74) Combat Command of the Air Force(1974-78) Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force(1978-1991) |
| Relations | Evelyn Matthei (daughter) |
Fernando Matthei Aubel (b.Osorno July 11, 1925) is a retired Chilean Air Force General who was part of the military junta that ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, replacing the dismissed Gustavo Leigh as Air Force Commander in Chief on July 24, 1978. He was part of the Junta from 1977 to 1990, retiring from the Air Force in July 1991.
The son of Fernando Matthei Aubel Gunkel and Luisa Gunkel Renz, Matthei entered the Aviation School in 1945 and the following year he was assigned to the Condors Air Base, where he obtained his appointment as a fighter pilot. In 1948, he was commissioned as a sublieutenant and was assigned to the No. 4 Bomber Group in Colina, serving concurrently as a flight instructor at the School of Aviation and Officers. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1951. That same year he married Elda Fornet, with whom he had five children: Fernando, Evelyn, Robert, Hedy Jaqueline and Victor Alejandro.
In 1953 he traveled to the United States to study flight instruction at Craig Air Force Base in Alabama. He was promoted to flight captain in 1954, teaching classes in arms at the Aviation School. In 1957, he was assigned to Wing 1 in the Antofagasta Cerro Moreno Base.
Posted to Santiago in 1960, he was promoted to squadron commander and sent to the School of Aviation. He became the adjutant to the air force commander in chief, General Eduardo Iensen, the following year.
In 1966 he was promoted to group commander and served as commander of Aviation Group Nº7 between 1968-1969, when he was sent to visit facilities of the Royal Air Force (RAF). On his return home, he was appointed professor at the Air War Academy. From October 1969 he was a professor of the Pilots Course for Tactical Hawker Hunter Aircraft in Aviation Group No. 7.
In November 1971, he served as air attache' in the Chilean embassies in Britain and Sweden, based in London. On 12 October 1973, he was appointed Chief of the Air Mission of Chile in London.
After the military coup in December 1973, he returned to Chile as director of the Air Force Academy. In January 1975, Matthei was promoted to air brigade general. On 19 March 1976 he was appointed Minister of Health.
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Wikipedia