Karen Paulina Poniachik Pollak (20 April 1965 – 12 October 2022) was a Chilean

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

, consultant, and politician. She served as Minister of Mining and Energy during the first government of 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 ...

. Poniachik was born in

Santiago 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, whos ...

on 20 April 1965. Her grandparents were

Jews 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 ...

who came to Chile from Romania and Poland to escape the Nazi siege that was beginning to feel strong in Europe in the early 1930s. Once in the

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n country they devoted themselves to commercial and industrial activities. Poniachik's father was an active entrepreneur who went through various activities, such as industrial, textile and financial field. Her mother was a housewife who, after having four children, studied law.El Mercurio (Santiago), 25 de junio de 2006, p.D24
/ref> Poniachik lived with her family in the Chilean capital until the arrival of the leftist Popular Unity to power in 1970, when they decided to immigrate to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. They returned home shortly before the coup of September 1973. She died on 12 October 2022, at the age of 57.

References

1965 births 2022 deaths Chilean Jews Chilean women journalists Chilean people of Polish-Jewish descent Chilean people of Romanian-Jewish descent Government ministers of Chile Chilean Ministers of Mining Ministers of Energy of Chile Politicians from Santiago Pontifical Catholic University of Chile alumni Columbia University alumni Women government ministers of Chile {{Chile-politician-stub