José Maza Fernández (13 October 1889 – 6 May 1964) was a politician, lawyer and diplomat from

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 ...

. He served as the President of the United Nations General Assembly during its tenth session from 1954 to 1955.

Early life

José was born to Armando de la Maza Ramos and Zoila Rosa Fernández Anguita in

Los Ángeles, Chile Los Ángeles () is the capital of the province of Bío Bío, in the commune of the same name, in Bío Bío, in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 186,671 inhabitants (census 2012) ...

. He studied at the Liceo de Aplicación in Santiago and graduated as a lawyer from the

University of Chile The University of Chile ( es, Universidad de Chile) is a public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

in 1913. He worked as a clerk at the Chilean War Ministry, before turning his attention towards student politics. He married Raquel Lyon Vial and they had a son, José.

Political career

He served as an important member in the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

, rising to become its president. He also served in the ministry of

Arturo Alessandri Arturo Fortunato Alessandri Palma (; December 20, 1868 – August 24, 1950) was a Chilean political figure and reformer who served thrice as president of Chile, first from 1920 to 1924, then from March to October 1925, and finally from 1932 to ...

as the Home minister in 1924, Minister of Justice and Public Instruction in 1925, besides also holding the position of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Religion occasionally. He was twice President of the Senate, in 1936 and 1937. He was also president of the Senate's Committee on Foreign Relations from 1937 until 1953. In 1949 he drafted a law which gave women political rights and was later incorporated into the Chilean Constitution.

Diplomatic career

He also served as the Chilean Ambassador to Uruguay, Brazil, Haiti, Panama, the Dominican Republic, and Peru at different periods of his diplomatic career. He was also Chile's delegate in the

United Nations Conference on International Organization The United Nations Conference on International Organization (UNCIO), commonly known as the San Francisco Conference, was a convention of delegates from 50 Allied nations that took place from 25 April 1945 to 26 June 1945 in San Francisco, Cali ...

in 1945. He subsequently served as the Chilean representative at the United Nations, before becoming the President of the United Nations General Assembly in 1954. He was subsequently the Chilean Ambassador to Argentina from 1957 to 1958.

Other Activities

He was one of the founding members of the Caja de Crédito Hipotecario, which was a predecessor of the

Banco del Estado de Chile Banco del Estado de Chile (In English: ''Bank of the State of Chile''), commercially operating under the brand BancoEstado, is the only Public Bank in Chile and was created by government decree in 1953. It provides financial services to consume ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maza Fernández, José 1889 births 1964 deaths People from Los Ángeles, Chile Chilean people of Spanish descent Liberal Democratic Party (Chile, 1893) politicians United Liberal Party (Chile) politicians Liberal Party (Chile, 1849) politicians Deputies of the XXXIII Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile Deputies of the XXXIV Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile Members of the Senate of Chile Chilean diplomats 20th-century Chilean lawyers University of Chile alumni