Camilo Cobo Gormaz

José Camilo Cobo Gormaz (28 April 1899 – 27 February 1985) was a Chilean lawyer and politician and a member of the Conservative Party. He served as Minister of Lands and Colonisation under Radical President Gabriel González Videla from July to November 1952.

Early life and education

Cobo was born in Santiago, Chile, on 28 April 1899, the son of Conservative Party member and businessman José Salustio Cobo Espínola and Rosa Gormaz Martínez. His paternal grandfather, Camilo Cobo Gutiérrez, represented Chillán in the Chamber of Deputies from 1870 to 1876 and served as Minister of Finance from 1871 to 1872 under President Federico Errázuriz Zañartu.

Cobo received his primary and secondary education at Colegio San Ignacio in Santiago. He subsequently studied law at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, qualifying as a lawyer on 9 January 1931. His thesis was entitled La responsabilidad del Estado.

On 25 April 1936, Cobo married María Raquel del Pilar de la Maza Rodríguez in Santiago. They had two sons, Camilo Ignacio and Roberto.

Political career

Cobo began his career in the public sector. In 1926, during the first administration of President Carlos Ibáñez del Campo, he joined the State Defense Council (CDE). From 1938, he served as the institution's secretary and legal counsel. In 1947, he became secretary of the Liga Protectora de Estudiantes de Santiago.

In politics, Cobo was a member of the Conservative Party. In early 1952, during the presidency of Gabriel González Videla, he was appointed president of the Agricultural Colonisation Fund, an agency under the Ministry of Lands and Colonisation. He remained in the position until 29 July 1952, when González Videla appointed him Minister of Lands and Colonisation. Cobo held the portfolio until the end of González Videla's presidency on 3 November 1952.

Cobo was also a member of Catholic Action, Catholic Youth and the organization Caballeros de Colón. He was also a member of the Club de la Unión.

Cobo died in his native Santiago on 27 February 1985, at the age of 85.