Carmen Puelma Accorsi (8 September 1933 – 27 December 2009) was an award-winning

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

an journalist.

Biography

After some decoration and nursing studies, in 1964 Puelma entered the journalism field at the

Pontifical Catholic University of Chile The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (UC Chile; ) is a traditional private university based in Santiago, Chile. It is one of the thirteen Catholic universities existing in Chilean university system and one of the two pontifical univ ...

, from which she graduated in 1969. That year she joined

Radio Cooperativa Radio Cooperativa is a radio station in Chile, based in Santiago. It is operated by ''Compañía Chilena de Comunicaciones S.A.''. The station is notable for opposing the Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (25 November 19 ...

, where she was head of news and press director until 1973. She was also an announcer, notably for the political program ''Las mujeres también improvisan'' – a reference to Canal 13's ', whose panel was composed only of men – which featured , Silvia Pinto, and

Raquel Correa Raquel Teresa Correa (8 July 1934 – 10 September 2012) was a Chilean journalist who spent the main part of her career with the newspaper ''El Mercurio (known online as ''El Mercurio On-Line'', ''EMOL'') is a Chilean newspaper with editions ...

, among others. It was known for its rigid opposition to the government of

Salvador Allende Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 1970 until Death of Salvador Allende, his death in 1973 Chilean coup d'état, 1973. As a ...

. During the same period she was director of the magazines ''Eva'' from 1971 to 1973 and ''Ideas para su hogar'' from 1976 to 1978. After the 11 September 1973 coup d'état, Puelma was appointed cultural and press attaché in Washington D. C. (1973–1974) and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

(1974–1976). Upon returning to Chile, she joined

Televisión Nacional de Chile Televisión Nacional de Chile (TVN) is a Chilean Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster. It was founded by order of President Eduardo Frei Montalva and it was launched nationwide on 18 September 1969. Since then, the company has been re ...

(TVN), a channel at which she was a commentator and, beginning in 1982, a morning news host. She later worked at University of Chile Television. In the written press she worked for the newspapers ''

La Tercera (), formerly known as (), is a daily newspaper published in Santiago, Chile and owned by Copesa. It is s closest competitor. is part of Periódicos Asociados Latinoamericanos ( Latin American Newspaper Association), an organization of fourte ...

'' – where she was a columnist and economic reporter – and ''

El Cronista (''Spanish language, Spanish: The Reporter'') is a daily business newspaper published in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was founded by Martin Giménez Antonio and first published as ''El Cronista Comercial'' on November 1, 1908. In 1989 the nam ...

''. She also worked for

Radio Agricultura Radio Agricultura (originally ''Radio Sociedad Nacional de Agricultura'') is a Chilean radio broadcasting network belonging to the association of landowners, Sociedad Nacional de Agricultura (SNA). It is run by ''Publicaciones y Difusión SA'' ( ...

, where she was part of the press committee, and for the Chilean Safety Association (''Asociación Chilena de Seguridad''; ACHS) as a communications consultant.

Personal life

Carmen Puelma was the sister of lawyer and academic Álvaro Puelma Accorsi. She had two marriages: the first to architect Gustavo Krefft, which lasted 14 years and produced two children, Gustavo and Gonzalo, and the second to industrialist Pablo Grand, which lasted four years. On 14 July 1986 she suffered a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

that left her in a wheelchair and forced her to abandon all professional activities. She died in 2009, from

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

Awards and honours

* In 1994, the AHCS established the Carmen Puelma Accorsi Award in her honor. * Puelma received the Lenka Franulic Award in 1983.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Puelma, Carmen 1933 births 2009 deaths 20th-century Chilean women writers 20th-century Chilean non-fiction writers Chilean people of Italian descent Chilean television journalists Chilean women journalists Deaths from lung cancer Pontifical Catholic University of Chile alumni Chilean radio presenters Chilean women radio presenters Women television journalists Writers from Santiago, Chile