Mónica Eliana Jiménez de la Jara (December 25, 1940 – August 25, 2020) was a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

Christian Democrat Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian ethics#Politics, Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo ...

politician and

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

Early life

Jiménez came from a political family. Her father Oscar Jiménez Pinochet was

Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare spending and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental heal ...

under President

Salvador Allende Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 1970 until Death of Salvador Allende, his death in 1973 Chilean coup d'état, 1973. As a ...

, while her brother

Jorge Jorge is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name George. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese . It is derived from the Greek name Γεώργιος (''Georgios ...

occupied the same position under President

Patricio Aylwin Patricio Aylwin Azócar (; 26 November 1918 – 19 April 2016) was a Chilean politician from the Christian Democratic Party of Chile, Christian Democratic Party, lawyer, author, professor and former senator. He was the 30th president of Chil ...

. Even though she never formally joined the Christian Democrat Party until 2009, she supported it since she was a university student. She graduated as a social worker from the Universidad Catolica de Chile. In 1981, she obtained a

Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

scholarship that allowed her to complete a Postgrade in Social Work Education at the

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is one of two pontifical universities of the Catholic Church in the United States – the only one that is not primarily a ...

, in Washington D.C.

Career

She was a member of the

National Commission for Truth and Reconciliation The Rettig Report, officially The National Commission for Truth and Reconciliation Report (), is a 1991 report by a commission designated by Chilean President Patricio Aylwin (from the ''Concertación'') detailing human rights abuses resulting in ...

which investigated

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

abuses resulting in death or disappearance that occurred in

during the years of military rule under General

Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean military officer and politician who was the dictator of Military dictatorship of Chile, Chile from 1973 to 1990. From 1973 to 1981, he was the leader ...

. She was also a member of the Presidential Committee on Higher Education Certification and the Committee of the ''Fundación Paz Ciudadana''. Jiménez was also the leader of the project "University: Building a Nation", an initiative that unifies the social work of 13 Chilean universities. She was also president of the Educational Corporation ''Aprender'', which runs two schools for

socially disadvantaged Social exclusion or social marginalisation is the social disadvantage and relegation to the fringe of society. It is a term that has been used widely in Europe and was first used in France in the late 20th century. In the EU context, the Euro ...

children. During her professional career, Jiménez has been dean of Social Work at the Universidad Catolica de Chile, and president of the Teachers' Association of the same university, acting as their representative in the directive council. Before being appointed as

by President

Michelle Bachelet Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria (; born 29 September 1951) is a Chilean politician who served as President of Chile from 2006 to 2010 and again from 2014 to 2018, becoming the first woman to hold the presidency. She was re-elected in December ...

on April 18, 2008, she was the president of the Catholic University of Temuco. She replaced Yasna Provoste, dismissed in April 2008 because of her participation in the corruption case known as '' Caso Subvenciones''. In July 2008, during a public debate called "Dialogues for Education" and in the context of a manifestation of repudiation by various stake-holders, the 14 years old student María Música Sepúlveda threw her a jar of water to the face to catch the attention of the Minister who ignored her while she tried to discuss the violent ways used by the police to expel students from the debate. The act was widely rejected by politicians of government and opposition parties, but has generated a mixed reaction in the general population. The student organisations, in particular, have openly supported and revindicated Maria Música's act. Since 2010 she has been the executive director of AEQUALIS (www.aequalis.cl), Forum for Higher Education. AEQUALIS, is a pluralistic, inclusive and innovative forum, where members communicate, hear and seek to arrive at a consensus in favour of common purposes. In its first stage (2010–2011) was unanimously considered an innovative and relevant initiative that, since civil society helped to analyze and promote policies of higher education. Members (approximately one hundred academics) coincide in appreciating that the social movement of the 2011 was a reflection of a situation of greater social significance therefore it should listen, meet and discuss their demands and incorporate them in a future scenario. Also, the Forum is a space that has made it possible to analyze our reality on the basis of relevant national and international experience in the matter. Currently, AEQUALIS have published eight books with the work they have done from 2010 to 2013.

Personal life

Jiménez was married to Juan Barros, with whom they had five children, and who died in 2002, leaving her a widow. Jiménez died from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

on August 25, 2020, at the age of 79.Fallece exministra de Educación Mónica Jiménez producto de un cáncer

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jimenez, Monica 1940 births Ministers of education of Chile Women government ministers of Chile Christian Democratic Party (Chile) politicians 2020 deaths Pontifical Catholic University of Chile alumni Catholic University of America alumni Chilean women ambassadors Ambassadors of Chile to Israel Deaths from cancer in Chile Government ministers of Chile 21st-century Chilean women