Romy María Schmidt Crnosija (born November 18, 1965) is a lawyer, academic, researcher and

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. She was the Minister of National Assets for 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 ...

from March 11, 2006 until January 6, 2010. Schmidt studied at the Liceo Manuel de Salas 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, whose ...

. She received a law degree from the Central University of Chile (1994) and obtained a master's degree in Disability at the

University of Salamanca The University of Salamanca ( es, Universidad de Salamanca) is a Spanish higher education institution, located in the city of Salamanca, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It was founded in 1218 by King Alfonso IX. It is th ...

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 ...

(1997). Between 1998 and 1999 Schmidt served as an external consultant of the

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...

(ILO). From 1997 to 2005 Schmidt was a professor of labor law courses at the School of Civil Engineering of the Central University of Chile, and professor of disability legislation in the School of Occupational Therapy at the Universidad Mayor. Since 2002, state taxes are collected by the National Disability Fund (Fonadis), which is in charge of legislative work that the agency conducts with the National Congress. In 2004, Schmidt was both adviser to the Ministry General Secretariat of Government and Vice President of the National Board of Kindergarten Schools (JUNJI). After Schmidt's ministry was over, she was appointed by Bachelet in early 2010 as the first director of the Museum of Memory and Human Rights. She is a member of the Party for Democracy (PPD), and is married to the sociologist and politician, Antonio Leal.

References

1965 births Living people Chilean people of Croatian descent Chilean people of German descent Chilean women lawyers Chilean agnostics Party for Democracy (Chile) politicians Government ministers of Chile Central University of Chile alumni University of Salamanca alumni Women government ministers of Chile 20th-century Chilean lawyers 21st-century Chilean lawyers {{chile-politician-stub