My father, Pedro Montiel Canobra, who has died suddenly aged 58, was a devoted and gentle family man, friend, scientist and teacher. He was an active communist, and politics shaped the course of his life, both in his home country of Chile and when it led him, as a political exile, first to Scotland and then to London.
Pedro, the youngest of three brothers, was born and raised in Chiloé, an island in the south of Chile, and became the island’s star footballer. The friendships he made in his youth lasted for the rest of his life, even after he settled in Britain. He began studying marine biology at university in the southern Chilean city of Valdivia, and was politically active there, even after the Chilean coup of 1973. But he was taken prisoner by the Pinochet regime and when released was forced to abandon his studies. He left Chile for Scotland as a political refugee in 1979.
He joined his eldest brother, Hector (Tito), in Dundee, resumed his studies and had a child, Kimberley, with Pauline, his then partner. He later moved south to study plant biology at the University of East London.
He went on to complete a PhD at King’s College London, and in 1994 joined the British Antarctic Survey as a biologist, making several trips to Antarctica. He did his teacher training at the Institute of Education in London and was a committed biology teacher for 15 years, latterly at City and Islington sixth-form college. He always spoke with passion about his subject. He was an active union member; the needs of his students and his colleagues were a priority to him.
With his wife of 18 years, Judith, he had three more children, Connie, Pepe and me. They divorced in 2009. He was a generous and patient father, whose greatest joy was seeing his children happy. He was delighted when his eldest daughter gave him two grandchildren, Jessica and Leo.
At home in London, he was part of a tight-knit community of close Chilean friends. He was an avid football fan and until his death played every Thursday for the Coasters, a five-a-side team in north London.
He married Lissette earlier this year. They had both visited Chile in the summer of 2014 and his annual trips back there were a source of great happiness to him.
He is survived by Lissette, four children and two grandchildren.
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