Graciela Contreras | |
---|---|
Mayor of Santiago | |
In office 6 January 1939 – 19 March 1940 | |
Preceded by | Onofre Lillo Astorquiza |
Succeeded by | Rafael Pacheco Sty |
Personal details | |
Born | Graciela Contreras Barrenechea 1895 |
Died | 1974 (aged 78–79) |
Political party | Socialist Party of Chile |
Spouse | Óscar Schnake |
Occupation | Politician |
Graciela Contreras Barrenechea (1895–1974), also known as Graciela Contreras de Schnake, was a Chilean politician. She was the mayor of Santiago from 1939 to 1940, becoming the first woman to hold the office.
Born in Santiago in 1895,[1] Graciela Contreras was the daughter of José María Contreras Vergara and Tránsito Barrenechea Naranjo. On the maternal side, she was the niece of doctor and politician Manuel J. Barrenechea Naranjo , and was also the cousin of the father of writer and politician Julio Barrenechea. In 1923 she married Óscar Schnake and they had two children.[2] The couple later divorced.[1] Contreras was a member of the Socialist Party of Chile (PS) since its founding in 1933, specializing in the area of Social Women's Action.[1]
Contreras was appointed mayor of the commune of Santiago by President Pedro Aguirre Cerda, her nomination being supported by the Pro-Emancipation Movement of Chilean Women (MEMCH),[1] a position she assumed on 6 January 1939.[3] With this, she became the first mayor of Santiago[4] – after her, only three women have held that position: María Teresa del Canto (1953–1957), María Eugenia Oyarzún (1975–1976), and Carolina Tohá (2012–2016).[3][5] She was the second woman to take office as mayor in Chile after Alicia Cañas,[6] and was the only woman mayor of a national capital in the Americas at the time.[7]
She served as mayor until 19 March 1940.[3] During her term she coordinated relief efforts after the Chillán earthquake,[7] expanded playgrounds and sports programs in working-class neighborhoods,[8] opened a hostel for shoeshiners,[9] and was a delegate to the Inter-American Commission of Women, working to increase civil and political rights for women.[10]