Abstract

The 1840s were a key period for Chile regarding academic, literary, journalistic, artistic, educational, and political events. From this date on, a series of events were unleashed, as in chain reaction, which marked the country during the second part of the nineteenth century: the foundation of the Universidad de Chile (University of Chile), whose first chancellor was Andrés Bello; the inauguration of the Sociedad Literaria (Literary Society) in the main lounge of the aforementioned university, with the memorable speech by José Victorino Lastarria; the foundation of the first Escuela Normal de Preceptores (Normal School of Teachers) in 1842; the arrival of French painter Raymond de Monvoisin in January 1843, which led to the opening of exhibitions and the first art salons in Chile; the emergence of the first cultural magazines in Valparaíso thanks to the influence of Argentine exiles like Domingo Faustino Sarmiento and Juan Bautista Alberdi; and the establishment in 1846 of a new Printing Law.