Allende was born on 26 June 1908 in Santiago.
He was the son of Salvador Allende Castro and Laura Gossens Uribe.
Allende's family belonged to the Chilean upper middle class and had a long tradition of political involvement in progressive and liberal causes.
His grandfather was a prominent physician and a social reformist who founded one of the first secular schools in Chile.
Salvador Allende was of Basque and Belgian (Walloons) descent.

Allende attended high school at Instituto Nacional General José Miguel Carrera of Santiago and at the Liceo Eduardo de la Barra in Valparaíso.
As a teenager, his main intellectual and political influence came from the shoe-maker Juan De Marchi, an Italian-born anarchist.
Allende was a talented athlete in his youth, being a member of the Everton de Viña del Mar sports club (named after the more famous English football club of the same name), where he is said to have excelled at the long jump.
Allende then graduated with a medical degree in 1933 from the University of Chile.
During his time at medical school Allende was influenced by Professor Max Westenhofer, a German pathologist who emphasized the social determinants of disease and social medicine.
Allende was born on 26 June 1908 in Santiago. He was the son of Salvador Allende Castro and Laura Gossens Uribe. Allende's family belonged to the Chilean upper middle class and had a long tradition of political involvement in progressive and liberal causes. His grandfather was a prominent physician and a social reformist who founded one of the first secular schools in Chile. Salvador Allende was of Basque and Belgian (Walloons) descent.
Allende attended high school at Instituto Nacional General José Miguel Carrera of Santiago and at the Liceo Eduardo de la Barra in Valparaíso. As a teenager, his main intellectual and political influence came from the shoe-maker Juan De Marchi, an Italian-born anarchist. Allende was a talented athlete in his youth, being a member of the Everton de Viña del Mar sports club (named after the more famous English football club of the same name), where he is said to have excelled at the long jump. Allende then graduated with a medical degree in 1933 from the University of Chile. During his time at medical school Allende was influenced by Professor Max Westenhofer, a German pathologist who emphasized the social determinants of disease and social medicine.
Salvador Allende