Carlos Edgardo Ruiz Rodríguez (born in Valparaíso, in 1954) is a Chilean historian and researcher specializing in indigenous history and genealogy. He obtained a degree in History and Geography from the Catholic University of Chile in 1986. He later studied at the University of Valladolid, Spain, where he obtained a Doctorate in History (1993). He has specialized in the History of America and Chile, and in particular the subjects related to the history of the original peoples of Chile and the Andean region, especially the Mapuche, both before and after the Spanish conquest. Conducts toponymy and linguistic studies of languages ​​native to the Southern Cone. He has developed a line of research whose object has been the study of the relations of the original peoples with society and the State in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Within the history of colonial Chile, he has specialized in the study of the formation and development of Hispanic-Creole society, covering topics of local history such as urbanization, the constitution of urban and rural property, family history, miscegenation and evangelism. Another line of research refers to the formation of identities in contemporary Chile, studying themes related to the social, cultural and economic problems of the Mapuche and mestizos of the rural and urban media, contemporary inter-ethnic relations and the theme of recent memory. in these sectors. He has published articles in relation to the methodology of teaching history and social sciences. He is the author of various dissemination materials of Mapuche history and culture, intended for bilingual intercultural education. Director of graduation seminar of history teachers, in the subject of elaboration of school texts. Master the application of genealogy in historical studies on Chilean society. He is an expert in heraldry, stenography and paleography from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century. He conducts genealogical research and works of heraldry and paleography for individuals and institutions. He began collaborating with Professor Horacio Zapater, at the Catholic University of Chile. He also carried out genealogical studies with Julio Retamal Favereau, Juan Guillermo Muñoz Correa and Carlos Celis Atria, which culminated in the book Familias Fundadoras. He also made a balance on the policies applied by the Chilean State towards the Mapuche people, together with Augusto Samaniego, published in Spain, 2007.