Adriana Margarita Olguín Büche (born Luz Adriana Margarita Olguín Buche; 18 November 1911 – 24 December 2015) was a Chilean

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. She was the Minister of Justice during the rule of Gabriel González Videla, making Olguín the first female minister of Chile.

Early life and education

Adriana Olguín de Baltra was born in

Valparaíso Valparaíso (; ) is a major city, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the commune of Valparaíso, Chile. "Greater Valparaíso" is the second largest metropolitan area in the country. Valparaíso is located about northwest of Santiago ...

in 1911 to Arsenio Olguín and Adela Büche. After studying in her hometown at the Liceo No 2 de Niñas, she joined the Faculty of Law and Social Sciences at the University of Chile. Olguín completed her thesis in 1936, ''Legal Loopholes and Judicial Discretion''. Two years later she became a lawyer with "unanimous distinction". While studying at the university, she met her future husband,

Alberto Baltra Alberto Baltra Cortés (6 January 1912 – 20 September 1981) was a Chilean politician and economist, a member of the Radical Party. Biography The son of Luis Baltra Opazo and Luisa Cortés Monroy, Alberto Baltra studied at the Liceo de Traigué ...

, with whom she had one son, Luis Alberto.

Career

After university, Olguín had a number of positions, both as a professional attorney for Valparaiso Customs and as a professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law. She was also politically active, having established the National Association of Housewives. Like her husband, she sympathized with the Radical Party, but was never an active member in it. She was appointed Minister of Justice in 1952, during the government of Gabriel González Videla. Though she served only a short period of time, she is credited as being the first woman ever to hold a cabinet post in

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

. Shortly after Olguín's appointment as Minister of Justice, María Teresa del Canto was named Minister of Education (1952–53), though women did not play a significant role in Chilean government until the 1990s. Between 1946 and 1953 she worked in the Women's Bureau. In 1955 she joined the board of the Bar Association and during the 60's she was legal adviser to the Comptroller General of the Republic. She later joined the State Council convened by the military regime between 1981 and 1989.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olguin, Adriana 1911 births 2015 deaths People from Valparaíso University of Chile alumni Chilean centenarians Women government ministers of Chile Chilean Ministers of Justice Chilean women lawyers Women centenarians 20th-century Chilean lawyers 20th-century Chilean politicians 20th-century Chilean women politicians Female justice ministers 20th-century women lawyers Government ministers of Chile