Italians in immigration to Chile have been present since the arrival of the first Spaniards into the country, such as Captain Giovanni Battista Pastene who helped Pedro de Valdivia's expedition.

Thence, with akin Latin culture, Italians have helped forge the nation, with architects (Gioacchino Toesca), painters (Camilo Mori), businessmen (Anacleto Angelini), economists (Vittorio Corbo) and statesmen (Arturo Alessandri).

These immigrants founded the "Body of Fire" (called "Cristobal Colon") of the city and its "Italian School," whose building the government of Chile has declared a National Historic Monument (Spanish: "Monumento Histórico Nacional").

The Italian community has been present since the times of Giovanni Battista Pastene, who participated in the discovery of Chile to the Spanish crown in the shipment of Pedro de Valdivia.

[10] Among the Italian-Chileans are architects (as Gioacchino Toeschi), painters (as Camilo Mori), industrial (as Anacleto Angelini), actresses (like Claudia Conserva), economists (as Vittorio Corbo) and statesmen (as the President Arturo Alessandri and his son).

[13] In the southern Chilean town named Capitán Pastene, there is currently a small concentration of 2,200 Italo-Chilean, who constitute almost all of the local population and maintain a few words of Italian dialect of their ancestors emigrated.