Oscar Jiménez Pinochet

Óscar Jiménez Pinochet
Óscar Jiménez Pinochet as Minister of Health, around 1970.
Minister of Public Health of Chile
In office
4 November 1970 – 14 August 1971
PresidentSalvador Allende
Preceded byRamón Valdivieso
Succeeded byJuan Carlos Concha
Ambassador of Chile to the Hungarian People's Republic
In office
1971 – 11 September 1973
PresidentSalvador Allende
Preceded byClaudio Aliaga Freire
Succeeded byRicardo Concha Gazmuri
Minister of Lands and Colonization of Chile
In office
23 April 1957 – 9 July 1957
PresidentCarlos Ibáñez del Campo
Preceded bySantiago Wilson Hernández
Succeeded byEnrique Méndez Carrasco
Undersecretariat of Public Health
In office
3 November 1952 – 1955
PresidentCarlos Ibáñez del Campo
Preceded byAbraham Drobny Kleinhauz
Succeeded byJorge Leyton Garvagno
Personal details
Born(1915-04-12)12 April 1915
Died15 March 1994(1994-03-15) (aged 78)
PartyNational Socialist Movement (1933–1939)
Agrarian Labor Party
(194?–1958)
National Democratic Party (1960–1969)
Social Democratic Party (1969–1970)
Radical Party
(1970–1973)
Spouse
Eliana de la Jara Parada
(m. 1939)
Children6
Parent(s)Luis Jiménez Barrientos
Blanca Pinochet Meza
Alma materUniversity of Chile
Pontifical Catholic University of Chile
OccupationDiplomat
Politician
ProfessionPhysician

Óscar Jiménez Pinochet (12 April 1915 – 15 March 1994) was a Chilean physician and politician. He served as ministro de Estado during the governments of presidents Carlos Ibáñez del Campo (1957) and Salvador Allende (1970–1971).[1]

Family and studies

He was born in Santiago de Chile on 12 April 1915, the son of Army Colonel Luis Jiménez Barrientos and Blanca Pinochet Meza.[2][3] He completed his primary and secondary education at the Instituto Nacional General José Miguel Carrera in Santiago. He pursued higher education in medicine at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and the University of Chile, graduating as a physician in 1940.[3]

In 1939, he married Eliana de la Jara Parada (sister of parliamentarian Renato de la Jara Parada),[2] with whom he had six children, among them physician Jorge Jiménez de la Jara, who became Minister of Health under president Patricio Aylwin, and Mónica Jiménez, who served as Minister of Education during the first administration of president Michelle Bachelet.[2]

Public life

During his youth, he joined the National Socialist Movement of Chile (MNSCh) and participated in the events of 5 September 1938 (Seguro Obrero massacre) as head of radio communications, being one of the few survivors of the incident, which left 59 fellow militants dead. He was briefly arrested due to his involvement during the second presidency of liberal Arturo Alessandri, and remained in the movement until its dissolution in 1939. He later practiced medicine for more than a decade and joined the Agrarian Labor Party in the 1940s. In 1952, under president Carlos Ibáñez del Campo, he was appointed Undersecretary of Health, Social Welfare and Assistance, serving until 1955.[3]

On 23 April 1957, he was appointed Minister of Lands and Colonization by Ibáñez, holding the post until 9 July 1957.[1] He stayed in the PAL until its dissolution in 1958.[3] In 1960, he joined the National Democratic Party (PADENA), leaving it in 1969 to join the Social Democratic Party (PSD).[3] In 1970, he switched to the Radical Party of Chile.[3]

With the election of president Salvador Allende on 3 November 1970, Jiménez was appointed Minister of Public Health, a position he held until 14 August 1971.[4][5] During his tenure, between 24 April and 18 May 1971, he was temporarily replaced by Minister of Mining Orlando Cantuarias.[1]

After leaving the cabinet, he was appointed ambassador of Chile to Hungary, then part of the socialist bloc led by the Soviet Union.[3] Following the 1973 Chilean coup d'état, he was removed from his post and remained in Europe, later moving to Argentina before returning to Chile in 1975.[3]

He died in Santiago on 15 March 1994, aged 78.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c Luis Valencia Avaria (1986). Anales de la República: registros de los ciudadanos que han integrado los Poderes Ejecutivo y Legislativo (2nd ed.). Santiago, Chile: Editorial Andrés Bello.
  2. ^ a b c "Anales de la República; Óscar Jiménez Pinochet". www.anales.cl. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Mauricio Pilleux Cepeda. "Familia Jiménez". www.genealog.cl. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
  4. ^ "Fundación Salvador Allende". Archived from the original on 7 March 2009. Retrieved 11 February 2009.
  5. ^ "Página SalvadorAllende.cl". Archived from the original on 14 February 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2009.