Ramón Plaza Monreal
Ramón Abraham Plaza Monreal (19 July 1892 – 1982) was a Chilean public official and politician and a member of the Democratic Party. He served as Minister of Labour under President Gabriel González Videla from February to June 1950.
Early life and education
Plaza was born in Santiago, Chile, on 19 July 1892, the son of Tristán Plaza Maturana and Adelina Monreal del Campo. He received his primary and secondary education at the Liceo Manuel Barros Borgoño. He subsequently studied law at the University of Chile and the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, but did not obtain a law degree.
He married Adelaida Frabasile, with whom he had one son, Gastón.
Public and political career
After leaving his legal studies without qualifying as a lawyer, Plaza pursued a career in public administration. From 1934 to 1939, he headed the Cooperatives Department of the General Commissariat of Subsistence and Prices. From 1939 to 1940, he served as head of the General Directorate of Social Welfare.
Plaza was a member of the Democratic Party. Within the party, he served for two consecutive terms as president of the Democratic Association, as national vice-president, and as secretary-general from 1934 to 1936. In the 1937 Chilean parliamentary election, he initially stood as a candidate for the Chamber of Deputies representing Coquimbo Department for the 1937–1941 legislative term, but subsequently withdrew his candidacy. In 1942, he became president of the Democratic Assembly of Chillán.
From 1940 to 1953, Plaza headed the Expropriations Department of the Corporation for Reconstruction and Relief, an agency established during the presidency of Pedro Aguirre Cerda. He also served as president of the corporation's Employees' Association.
On 27 February 1950, President Gabriel González Videla appointed Plaza Minister of Labour. He remained in office until 21 June 1950. After leaving the cabinet, he was appointed a board member of the National Savings Bank, a position he held until 1952.
Plaza was also an honorary member of the Sociedad de Artesanos La Unión and the Society for the Protection of Animals. He died in Santiago in 1982.