Pedro Javier Godoy Pérez (15 February 1886 – 8 December 1944) was a Chilean civil engineer, academic, and public official.
He served as Minister of Public Education from July to September 1931, during the successive vice presidencies of Pedro Opazo, Juan Esteban Montero, and Manuel Trucco. He later served as interim Rector of the University of Chile from 1931 to 1932.
Biography Godoy was born in Quito, Ecuador, on 15 February 1886. His father, Domingo Godoy Cruz, was a Chilean lawyer, diplomat, and Liberal Democratic politician who served in the Chamber of Deputies, held diplomatic appointments, and was Minister of Foreign Affairs, Worship and Colonization under President José Manuel Balmaceda. His mother, Victoria Pérez Díaz, was Colombian.
His paternal uncle, Joaquín Godoy Cruz, was also a lawyer and politician and served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Colonization and as Minister of the Interior during Balmaceda's administration. Godoy's brother, Domingo Joaquín Godoy Pérez, was a lawyer who served as Minister of Justice from June to October 1941 and as acting Minister of National Defense from June to July of that year, during the presidency of Pedro Aguirre Cerda.
Godoy married Aurora Lagarrigue Cádiz, the daughter of sculptor Carlos Lagarrigue Alessandri and Rosa Amelia Cádiz Navas. Carlos Lagarrigue was a brother of philosopher Juan Enrique Lagarrigue.
Engineering career Godoy received his primary and secondary education at the Instituto Nacional in Santiago. He subsequently studied at the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences of the University of Chile, qualifying as a civil engineer.
He began his professional career as an engineer with the Dirección General de Obras Públicas, then part of the Ministry of Industry, Public Works and Railways. He later worked as an engineer for the Chilean Navy and the State Railways. He also worked as a consultant for the Corporación de Fomento de la Producción (CORFO).
From 1929 to 1943, Godoy taught strength of materials at the University of Chile's School of Engineering. He also represented the university at a railway congress held in Santiago.
Public career Godoy did not belong to a political party. Historian Gonzalo Vial described his political outlook as having evolved from anarchism toward positivism and characterized him as politically close to the left.
Following the resignation of Carlos Ibáñez del Campo from the presidency, Vice President Pedro Opazo appointed Godoy Minister of Public Education on 26 July 1931. He remained in the cabinet when Juan Esteban Montero succeeded Opazo as vice president on 27 July and was again retained when Manuel Trucco assumed the vice presidency on 20 August. Godoy left the ministry on 3 September 1931 and was succeeded by Leonardo Guzmán Cortés.
Godoy subsequently served as dean of the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences until 1933. As the university's senior dean, he assumed the position of interim rector of the University of Chile on 17 November 1931 following the resignation of Armando Larraguibel.
Godoy took medical leave in April 1932 and relinquished the university's leadership to Juvenal Hernández Jaque, then dean of the Faculty of Legal and Social Sciences. He returned to the University Council on 1 June 1932 but did not resume his duties as interim rector.
Godoy was a member of the Sociedad de Ingenieros de Chile. He died in Santiago on 8 December 1944, aged 58.
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