Tomás René Hirsch Goldschmidt (born 19 July 1956) is a leftist

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 politician and businessman. He was the Together We Can Do More pact candidate for the 2005 Chilean presidential election, winning 5.4% of the vote.

Biography

Hirsch was born in Santiago, Chile, to

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

parents. His mother, Lysa Goldschmidt, arrived in Chile before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, while his father, Jorge Hirsch, arrived in the country escaping from German

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

concentration camps. During his youth, Hirsch became interested in Silo, an Argentinian writer and leader of a movement that inspired the founders of the

Humanist Party The Humanist International (also known as the International Humanist Party) is a consortium of political parties adhering to universal humanism (also known as Siloism, after the nickname of the movement's founder), founded in 1989 by over 40 na ...

. In 1974 Hirsch began studying Industrial Civil Engineering at 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.

, but dropped out in 1978. Later he began working on his brother's photo company. Hirsch is married to Juanita Vergara and has two children.

Political life

In 1983 Hirsch helped found the Humanist Party, the first political party legalized (1987) under the dictatorship of

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 ...

, and was president of the party from 1994 until 1999. He was also one of the founders of the

Coalition of Parties for Democracy A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

(CPD) and served as Chile's ambassador to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

between 1990 and 1992, under the democratic government of

Patricio Aylwin Patricio Aylwin Azócar (; 26 November 1918 – 19 April 2016) was a Chilean politician from the Christian Democratic Party, lawyer, author, professor and former senator. He was the first president of Chile after dictator Augusto Pinochet, a ...

. In January 1993, the Humanist Party withdrew from the CPD. Hirsch unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the lower house of Congress in 1997 and for

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

, representing the Humanists. Hirsch was a leading spokesperson for the victims of the

Pinochet regime 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 ...

- when Pinochet was under house arrest in London. He would often appear on international news cables demanding that Pinochet be sent to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and be put on trial for crimes against humanity. He criticized the government of

Ricardo Lagos Ricardo Froilán Lagos Escobar (; born 2 March 1938) is a Chilean lawyer, economist and social-democratic politician who served as president of Chile from 2000 to 2006. During the 1980s he was a well-known opponent of the Chilean military dic ...

for pushing for Pinochet's release from detention claiming that Pinochet would never stand trial in Chile where he was protected by the

Chilean Army The Chilean Army ( es, Ejército de Chile) is the land arm of the Military of Chile. This 80,000-person army (9,200 of which are conscripts) is organized into six divisions, a special operations brigade and an air brigade. In recent years, and ...

and the Chilean political establishment. Hirsch has also been a major critic of the course the

has taken and was cynical of the euphoria created by the election of the socialist president

Michelle Bachelet Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria (; born 29 September 1951) is a Chilean politician who served as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2018 to 2022. She previously served as President of Chile from 2006 to 2010 and 2014 to 201 ...

claiming that her government meant a continuation of the same for most Chileans. Hirsch has a highly revolutionary conception of Chilean society and his party calls for systemic changes to the economy to create a more

egalitarian Egalitarianism (), or equalitarianism, is a school of thought within political philosophy that builds from the concept of social equality, prioritizing it for all people. Egalitarian doctrines are generally characterized by the idea that all hu ...

, truly

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

ic and democratic society for all Chileans. He is also a supporter of the cause of the natives of Chile – the

Mapuches The Mapuche ( (Mapuche & Spanish: )) are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who sh ...

. Some of his views are close to those of the

Communist Party of Chile The Communist Party of Chile ( es, Partido Comunista de Chile, ) is a communist party in Chile. It was founded in 1912 as the Socialist Workers' Party () and adopted its current name in 1922. The party established a youth wing, the Communist Youth ...

(with which his party formed an electoral front in the coalition ''

Juntos Podemos Más Juntos Podemos Más por Chile (Spanish literal: ''Together we can do more for Chile'', ''Podemos'' is an acronym of ''Po''der ''Demo''crático ''S''ocial, Spanish for ''Social Democratic Power'') was a political coalition created in 2003, consisti ...

'' (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: Together we can do more) in the Chilean presidential elections of 2005. He is supported by a broad layer of progressive and left-wing people who believe the political "right" has unfairly controlled Chilean politics since the end of the Pinochet dictatorship. Hirsch has been arrested on a number of occasions by the Chilean police for taking part in demonstrations in support of political causes.

References

External links

Official presidential campaign siteSpokesperson of New Humanism for LatinamericaNotice of Hirsch's lecture in Tel-Aviv, March 2012, on the "Park Project Israel-Palestine" website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hirsch, Tomas 1956 births Living people Candidates for President of Chile Ambassadors of Chile to New Zealand Chilean diplomats Chilean Jews Chilean humanists Chilean people of German-Jewish descent Jewish socialists Libertarian socialists Politicians from Santiago Humanist Party (Chile) politicians University of Chile alumni