Manuel de Freyre y Santander

Manuel de Freyre y Santander was born in Washington in 1872 while his father, Colonel Manuel Freyre, represented Peru there. His mother, Clementina Santander, was a daughter of the Colombian independence leader Francisco de Paula Santander. He studied civil engineering in Europe before entering diplomacy with Peru’s arbitration commission at Berne in 1900. Service in Bogotá preceded a long Washington assignment in which he rose from first secretary to chargé and then minister. ^{1, 4}

Freyre subsequently represented Peru in East Asia, Colombia, Argentina, and Britain. In 1925 he served as Peru’s commissioner in the attempted Tacna–Arica plebiscite, alongside Chile’s Agustín Edwards and the American commissioners. That contentious effort followed the arbitration of the territorial dispute left by the War of the Pacific. He returned to Washington as ambassador in 1930. ¹

His embassy dealt with cultural projects as well as political and military questions. A November 1935 letter catalogued by the Museo de Arte de Lima concerns an exhibition by Elena and Victoria Izcue in New York. In October 1941 he was pursuing the delivery of eighteen aircraft bought by Peru when the United States requisitioned them for its own defence needs. Cordell Hull’s reply explained the American decision and promised continued cooperation. ^{2, 3}

Freyre remained ambassador until his death on 1 April 1944. By then he was dean of Washington’s diplomatic corps. The Pan American Union commemorated both his long service and his participation in its governing board. ⁴