Daniel Fernando Filmus (; born June 3, 1955) is an

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and academic, currently serving as the country's Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, since 2021. Filmus formerly served as a National Senator for the City of Buenos Aires from 2007 to 2013, and as Minister of Education, Science and Technology in the government of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Néstor Kirchner. From 2014 to 2015, and later from 2019 to 2021, he was Secretary of Affairs pertaining to the

Malvinas The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouzet ...

(Falkland Islands).

Early life and career

Born in La Paternal,

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, to María Cecilia Cwik and Salomón Filmus, his mother was an

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

teacher of

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

descent, and his father a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

immigrant from

Bessarabia Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Be ...

(now

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

) who arrived in Argentina in 1928 and became a shopkeeper. Daniel Filmus was briefly involved in the

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

youth wing as a teenager, and enrolled at the

University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires ( es, Universidad de Buenos Aires, UBA) is a public university, public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Established in 1821, it is the premier institution of higher learning in the country and one o ...

(UBA). He became involved in

Peronist Peronism, also called justicialism,. The Justicialist Party is the main Peronist party in Argentina, it derives its name from the concept of social justice., name=, group= is an Argentine political movement based on the ideas and legacy of Ar ...

politics as a

student union A students' union, also known by many other names, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, ...

activist, and helped establish an office of the

Permanent Assembly for Human Rights The Permanent Assembly for Human Rights (in Spanish, La Asamblea Permanente por los Derechos Humanos (APDH)) is an Argentine non-governmental human rights organization; founded in 1975. According to its official website the organization is the pr ...

at UBA. He studied

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

and

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

at the university, and earned a degree in the latter in 1977. Filmus became a

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

teacher, working in Entre Ríos and Chaco Provinces. He earned a specialization in

adult education Adult education, distinct from child education, is a practice in which adults engage in systematic and sustained self-educating activities in order to gain new forms of knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values. Merriam, Sharan B. & Brockett, Ralp ...

at CREFAL, a literacy promotion program in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, and a master's degree in education at the Fluminense Federal University in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

in 1989. Filmus never married. He had a daughter in 1992 during his first long-term relationship, and another daughter in 2002 with his second partner, Marisa Factorovich, a psychoanalyst. Filmus became a professor of sociology at UBA in 1985 and served as president of the UBA Sociology Alumni Association, writing several books on the subject. He served in the Citizen Power Council of Buenos Aires and as staff researcher in the Latin American School of Social Studies (FLACSO), whose Argentine chapter he headed between 1992 and 2000.

Political career

Filmus was appointed secretary of education of the City of Buenos Aires by Mayor

Aníbal Ibarra Aníbal Ibarra (born March 1, 1958) is an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as mayor of Buenos Aires. Biography Ibarra was born in Lomas de Zamora, a district located in the southern region of Greater Buenos Aires. His father was a P ...

, who asked him to become his running mate for his successful 2003 bid for reelection. Newly inaugurated president Néstor Kirchner appointed Filmus Minister of Education before the mayoral race began, however. Filmus also served as staff researcher at the

National Research Council National Research Council may refer to: * National Research Council (Canada), sponsoring research and development * National Research Council (Italy), scientific and technological research, Rome * National Research Council (United States), part of ...

from 1997, and as president of the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

Debt-for-Education task force from 2006. Filmus ran for mayor of Buenos Aires on the

Kirchnerist Kirchnerism ( es, Kirchnerismo ) is an Argentine political movement based on populist ideals formed by the supporters of Néstor Kirchner and his wife Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who consecutively served as Presidents of Argentina. Althoug ...

Front for Victory ticket in 2007. He came in second in the first round, and was defeated by Republican Proposal candidate Mauricio Macri by nearly 22% in the

runoff Runoff, run-off or RUNOFF may refer to: * RUNOFF, the first computer text-formatting program * Runoff or run-off, another name for bleed, printing that lies beyond the edges to which a printed sheet is trimmed * Runoff or run-off, a stock market ...

. He was, however, elected

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for Buenos Aires and took office in December 2007; he was named president of the Committee on the

Environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...

and

Sustainable Development Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The des ...

. He again ran as the Front for Victory candidate mayor of Buenos Aires in 2011, naming his rival in the primaries, Labor Minister

Carlos Tomada Carlos Alfonso Tomada (born 4 May 1948) is an Argentine Peronist politician who served as the country's Minister of Labour, Employment, and Social Security from 2003 to 2015, having first been appointed by former President Néstor Kirchner, and r ...

, as his

running mate A running mate is a person running together with another person on a joint Ticket (election), ticket during an election. The term is most often used in reference to the person in the subordinate position (such as the vice presidential candidate ...

. The results were largely a replay of the 2007 election, however, with a second place showing in the first round and Macri's eventual reelection in the runoff by a margin of over 28%. In 2021, he was appointed as Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation in replacement of Roberto Salvarezza, as part of a cabinet reshuffle following the government's poor showings in the 2021 legislative primary elections.

References

External links

Daniel Filmus y Adriana Puiggrós: ¿A dónde va la educación?
Interview, '' Clarín'', 19 February 2006
Senate profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Filmus, Daniel 1955 births Living people People from Buenos Aires Argentine Jews Jewish Argentine politicians University of Buenos Aires alumni University of Buenos Aires faculty Argentine educators Argentine sociologists Argentine people of Polish-Jewish descent Argentine people of Moldovan-Jewish descent UNESCO officials Argentine ministers of education Members of the Argentine Senate for Buenos Aires Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies elected in Buenos Aires Justicialist Party politicians 20th-century Argentine educators Argentine officials of the United Nations