Hernán Larraín Fernández (born September 21, 1947) is a conservative

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

an lawyer, university lecturer, and politician; he served as the Chilean Minister of Justice and Human rights, appointed by president

Sebastián Piñera Miguel Juan Sebastián Piñera Echenique OMCh (; born 1 December 1949) is a Chilean billionaire businessman and politician who served as president of Chile from 2010 to 2014 and again from 2018 to 2022. The son of a Christian Democratic polit ...

, between 2018 and 2022. Larraín's former public service positions include a Senate seat representing the 11th district, the Maule Region (1994-2010), the Presidency of the Senate (2004-2005) and the presidency of the

Independent Democratic Union The Independent Democratic Union (''Unión Demócrata Independiente'', UDI) is a conservative and right-wing political party in Chile, founded in 1983. Its founder was the lawyer, politician and law professor Jaime Guzmán, a civilian allied with ...

(''Unión Demócrata Independiente, UDI'') from 2006 to 2008 and 2015–2017. The UDI is a conservative political party with strong links to the

Opus Dei Opus Dei, formally known as the Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei ( la, Praelatura Sanctae Crucis et Operis Dei), is an institution of the Catholic Church whose members seek personal Christian holiness and strive to imbue their work an ...

, that opposes abortion and has historically supported

Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, , , ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Military Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1981, being declared President of ...

dictatorship. His appointment as Minister of Justice and Human rights has been controversial despite his attempt to distance himself from the UDI's ideology regarding human rights to achieve a more conciliatory tone as a minister. Larraín is married to

Magdalena Matte Magdalena Matte Lecaros (born August 13, 1950) is a Chilean businesswoman and politician. She is member of the Independent Democratic Union (UDI) and was part of Chile's Ministry of Housing and Urban Development under Chile's former President Seb ...

, a Chilean civil engineer,

businesswoman A businessperson, businessman, or businesswoman is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial or industrial) for the ...

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 ...

involved in the

Kodama case The Kodama case is a payment controversy that involved the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development of Chile, led by Magdalena Matte, in 2011. The ministry had entered into a judicial agreement that authorized a significant payment of 17 billion ...

. They have six children, among them is

Pablo Larraín Pablo Larraín Matte (; born 19 August 1976) is a Chilean filmmaker. He has directed nine feature films and co-directed one television series, including the Academy Award-nominated films '' No'' (2012), '' Neruda'' (2016), '' Jackie'' (2016) an ...

, a well known film maker. Hernán Larraín is of

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

descent. He is also a member of Washington D.C. based think tank the Inter-American Dialogue.

Early years

Hernán Larraín was born in

Santiago de Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

. He studied at the Saint George's College. He entered the School of Law at the

Pontifical Catholic University of Chile The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (''PUC or UC Chile'') ( es, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile) is one of the six Catholic Universities existing in the Chilean university system and one of the two pontifical universities i ...

and received a law degree in 1971. At the university, Larraín obtained the "J.Tocornal" and "P.Montenegro" awards, given to the best student of the class. Larraín received a scholarship from the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

to pursue his

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

(LL.M.) degree at the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

. Larraín has been professor of the School of Law at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, where he served as secretary-general. Despite having belonged to the ''Gremialista'' movement, he did not join the Independent Democratic Union until after the assassination of its founder

Jaime Guzmán Jaime Jorge Guzmán Errázuriz (June 28, 1946 – April 1, 1991) was a Chilean constitutional law professor, speechwriter and member and doctrinal founder of the conservative Independent Democrat Union party. In the 1960s he opposed the Universit ...

in 1991.

References

External links

Official site of Hernán LarraínBiography on BCN.cl, National Congressional Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Larrain, Hernan 1947 births Living people 20th-century Chilean lawyers 21st-century Chilean lawyers Candidates for President of Chile Pontifical Catholic University of Chile faculty Chilean Ministers of Justice Chilean people of Basque descent Independent Democratic Union politicians Hernan Members of the Inter-American Dialogue Members of the Senate of Chile People from Santiago Pontifical Catholic University of Chile alumni Presidents of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile Student Federation Presidents of the Senate of Chile