Portrait of Simon Iturri Patino

People/magnate

Simon Iturri Patino

Simon Iturri Patino (1860–1947), magnate, from Bolivia. Linked to tin.

The lucky break

Born in the village of Karasa, he became known as the Tin King and, with Aramayo and Hochschild, came to control most of Bolivia's tin mines.1,2,3,4,5

Legacy

Later bought tin mines in Thailand and Malaysia and for decades dominated the world tin market. He died in Buenos Aires on 20 April 1947. The 1952 revolution nationalised his Bolivian mines.1,2,3,4,5

Story cards

Timeline

  1. 31 October 1952Bolivia nationalises the tin mines6
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Where next

People

Rival ofVictor Paz EstenssoroHe nationalised the empire of Bolivia's Tin King.3FamilyAntenor PatinoHe inherited the Tin King's fortune on his father's death.1Partner ofCarlos Victor AramayoTwo of the three barons who held 72 per cent of Bolivia's tin exports.2Partner ofMauricio (Moritz) HochschildBolivia's tin barons were seen as a cartel that negotiated among themselves.2

Events

OwnedBolivia nationalises the tin minesThe Tin King's mines were nationalised five years after he died.1,3

Sources

  1. Article on Antenor Patino (Tello Diaz), PDF 64024698007 Redalyc (journal article)
  2. How Bolivia's ruthless tin baron saved thousands of Jewish refugees The Guardian (Dan Collyns, 11 Aug 2022)
  3. Foreign Relations of the United States 1952-1954, vol. IV, document 145 US Department of State, Office of the Historian
  4. Wikidata item Q561365
  5. File pages and licence metadata for portraits (via the Commons imageinfo/extmetadata API) Wikimedia Commons
  6. Bolivia: the Bolivian National Revolution, 1952-64 US Library of Congress Federal Research Division (via countrystudies.us)

Pictures on this page: 1922-06-06, El Liberal, Simón I. Patiño (cropped).jpg, Ángel de la Fuente (Public domain); Carlos Víctor Aramayo - 2.jpg, Unknown author (Public domain); 1026470 F82658.png, Irene Bran (Public domain).

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Pictures: Chiquicamata Mine, Chile, NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Space Systems, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (Public domain (NASA media, no copyright)); Salar de Atacama, Chile, NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Space Systems, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (Public domain (NASA media, no copyright)); Kopermijn te Kolwezi in de provincie Shaba (Katanka), Mieremet, Rob / Anefo / Europeana (Public Domain Mark 1.0).