Federico Peña

Federico Peña Cereceda (1 July 1896 – 5 March 1964) was a Chilean lawyer and politician. He served as a Minister of State — in the portfolio of Lands and Colonization — during the administration of President Jorge Alessandri between September and December 1963.

Life Peña was the son of Ismael Peña Villalón and Mercedes Cereceda Cortés. He married Melita Federica Mohr Schüler in 1925.

He studied at the Liceo de Hombres de La Serena in north-central Chile, and later pursued law at the University of Chile in Santiago, qualifying as a lawyer in 1919.

He worked as an inspector at the Instituto Nacional of Santiago, one of the country's leading secondary schools (1914–1920), and subsequently began a long career in the Judiciary. Among the positions he held were judge of the Second Court of Osorno, judge of the Second Court of Valdivia, judge of the First Criminal Court of Valparaíso, judge of the Second Criminal Court of Santiago, and justice of the Court of Appeals of Valdivia.

In 1963, he was called by President Jorge Alessandri Rodríguez to serve the country as Minister of Lands and Colonization, in his capacity as a member of the Radical Party of Chile (PR).

He also served as director of the Office of Indigenous Affairs.