Maya Fernández

Born in Chile to Cuban diplomat Luis Fernández Oña and Beatriz Allende Bussi, she is a grandchild of the Chilean President Salvador Allende.[2] She and her family had to emigrate to Cuba due to the military coup of 11 September 1973 against her grandfather,[3] staying on the island until she was 21 years old. She returned to Chile in 1990, settling permanently in 1992.[4] The same year she began studying biology at the University of Chile. She subsequently also studied veterinary medicine at the same university and obtained a BSc in both.[5]

In 1992 she joined the Socialist Party of Chile.[4] In the 2008 municipal elections, she was elected councilor for the Nuñoa commune, which she stayed until 2012.[5] During the presidency of Milchelle Bachelet between 2006 and 2012, she worked in the Ministry of Foreign Relations.[2] In the municipal elections of 2012, she ran for the mayorship of Ñuñoa for the Socialist Party on the Concertation list.[6] The favorite to win the elections was Pedro Sabat, who had been serving as mayor of Nuñoa for the past 16 years.[7] Fernandez at first won the elections by a slim margin of twenty votes, a result which was appealed by Sabat, who in turn came out victorious after a recount which gave him a thirty-vote lead.[7]

She is the daughter of Cuban diplomat and politician of the Cuban Communist Party Luis Fernández Oña and surgeon Beatriz Allende Bussi,[2] and the youngest granddaughter of former President Salvador Allende.[2] She is also a niece to Senator Isabel Allende.[4] Being a volunteer firefighter of Nuñoa,[2] she is married to Tomás Monsalve Egaña and has two children.[4]