Gonzalo Ibáñez Santa María

Gonzalo Ibáñez Santa Maria (born 30 December 1945) is a Chilean politician who served as a parliamentarian. In 2023, he was candidate for the Chilean Constitutional Council.

Biography He was born in Valparaíso on 30 December 1945. He is the son of Pedro Ibáñez Ojeda, former senator for the 3rd Provincial Grouping (Aconcagua–Valparaíso), and Adela Santa María. He married Carla María Davanzo Garbaccio and is the father of four children.

Professional career He studied at Saint Paul’s School, the Sagrados Corazones in Viña del Mar, and the Naval School of Valparaíso. He later entered the Faculty of Law at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, where he completed his law degree in 1970 with the thesis "Legitimidad de la autoridad política".

At his alma mater he served as teaching assistant and adjunct professor in Philosophy of Law. From 1975 he was full professor of Philosophy of Law at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile; from 1974 he taught at the Adolfo Ibáñez Business School of Valparaíso (later Adolfo Ibáñez University); and from 1978 he was professor of Introduction to the Study of Law at the University of Chile.

He earned a doctorate in Law from the University of Law, Economics and Social Sciences, Paris II Panthéon-Assas, France. His doctoral dissertation, supervised by Michel Villey, was titled "Berdiaeff, Mounier y Maritain, filosofía del Derecho en el movimiento del personalismo cristiano en Francia".

In 1980 he served as dean of the Faculty of General Studies at the Technical University of the State (Universidad Técnica del Estado) in Santiago. Between 1986 and 1988 he directed the Bachelor’s Program in Social Sciences at Gabriela Mistral University. He later served as professor and rector of Adolfo Ibáñez University from 1989 to 1997.

He was awarded a scholarship by the Instituto de Cultura Hispánica to pursue postgraduate studies at the Complutense University of Madrid (1970–1971). In 1974 he worked as an adviser in the Cultural Secretariat of the General Secretariat of Government. He has also been a board member of the Adolfo Ibáñez Foundation and director of Fábrica Nacional de Aceites (FANAC S.A.).

He has participated in numerous conferences and seminars on Natural Law in Chile and abroad and has authored several scholarly publications in his field.

Political career In 1966 he participated in the founding of the National Party.

In the December 1997 parliamentary elections, he was elected as an independent candidate on the "Unión por Chile" list for District No. 14 (Viña del Mar and Concón), serving in the Chamber of Deputies of Chile from 1998 to 2002. In 2001 he was re-elected for the same district, this time representing the Independent Democratic Union (UDI), obtaining the first majority in the district.

In the 2005 elections he sought re-election but was not returned to Congress. After completing his parliamentary term, he resumed his academic activities.