Luana Volnovich (born 26 September 1979) is an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

political scientist Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

and

Justicialist Party The Justicialist Party (, ; abbr. PJ) is a major political party in Argentina, and the largest branch within Peronism. Following the 2023 presidential election, it has been the largest party in the opposition against President Javier Milei. Fo ...

politician. She currently serves as a National Deputy elected in

Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires, officially the Buenos Aires Province, is the largest and most populous Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of the province an ...

, a position she previously held from 2015 to 2019. From 2019 to 2023, during the government of

Alberto Fernández Alberto Ángel Fernández (; born 2 April 1959) is an Argentine politician, lawyer, and academic who served as President of Argentina from 2019 to 2023. He was also the Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers from 2003 to 2008. His tenure as Cabin ...

, Volnovich served as the executive director of the Comprehensive Medical Attention Program (PAMI), Argentina's biggest

public health insurance Publicly funded healthcare is a form of health care financing designed to meet the cost of all or most healthcare needs from a publicly managed fund. Usually this is under some form of democratic accountability, the right of access to which are se ...

agency.

Early life and education

Luana Volnovich was born on 26 September 1979 in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, Brazil to Argentine parents exiled during the last civic–military dictatorship in Argentina (1976–1983). The family returned to Argentina in 1989. Volnovich studied and earned a ''

licenciatura A licentiate (abbreviated Lic.) is an academic degree present in many countries, representing different educational levels. The Licentiate (Pontifical Degree) is a post graduate degree when issued by pontifical universities and other universit ...

'' on

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

at the

University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires (, UBA) is a public university, public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is the second-oldest university in the country, and the largest university of the country by enrollment. Established in 1821 ...

(UBA). She also has a post-graduate degree in Public Policy Administration and Control from the

Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences The Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (, or FLACSO) is a graduate-only university and inter-governmental autonomous organization for Latin America dedicated to research, teaching and spreading of social sciences. Headquartered in Costa R ...

(FLACSO). During her studies at the UBA, she co-founded the Centro de Estudios Políticos (CEP; "Centre for Political Studies") alongside the economist Iván Heyn.

Political career

Volnovich was one of the founding members of

La Cámpora La Cámpora is an Argentine left-wing political youth organization supporting the governments of Néstor Kirchner, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, and Alberto Fernández. It is named after former Peronism, Peronist president Héctor José Cá ...

, one of the youth wings of the

Front for Victory The Front for Victory (, FPV) was a centre-left Peronist electoral alliance in Argentina, and is formally a faction of the Justicialist Party. Former presidents Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner were elected as representatives ...

. In 2014, during the presidency of

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner (; born 19 February 1953), often referred to by her initials CFK, is an Argentine lawyer and former politician who served as the 56th president of Argentina from 2007 to 2015, and later as the 37th Vice ...

, Volnovich was appointed as National Director for the enlargement and strengthening of educational rights at the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

. Her administration saw the implementation of the ''Progresar'' and ''FinEs'' educational social assistance schemes. At the 2015 legislative elections, Volnovich was the 12th candidate in the

list to the

Argentine Chamber of Deputies The Chamber of Deputies (), officially the Honorable Chamber of Deputies of the Argentine Nation, is the lower house of the Argentine National Congress (). It is made up of 257 national deputies who are elected in multi-member constituencies c ...

. The list received 37.38% of the vote, and Volnovich was elected. She was sworn in on 10 December 2015. As deputy, Volnovich voted against the

Mauricio Macri Mauricio Macri (; born 8 February 1959) is an Argentine businessman and politician who served as President of Argentina from 2015 to 2019. He has been the leader of the Republican Proposal (PRO) party since its founding in 2005. He previously ...

administration's pension reform in 2017, and introduced a bill to overturn it after it had passed the Chamber. She also voted in favor of the Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy bill, which would have legalized abortion in Argentina, but was struck down by the

Senate 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 ...

on 8 August 2018. She was re-elected at the 2019 legislative election, this time as the second candidate in the

Frente de Todos The Frente de Todos (translated as "Everyone's Front") was a centre-left political coalition of political parties in Argentina formed to support President Alberto Fernández and Vice President Cristina Kirchner. Fernández won the 2019 gen ...

list, under Sergio Massa. She was easily re-elected, but was never sworn in as she was appointed as executive director of

PAMI Usermaatre-setepenre Pami-meryamun ( Egyptian ''wsr-mȝʿt-rʿ stp-n-rʿ pȝ-my mrj-jmn'') was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the 22nd Dynasty who ruled for 7 years. "Pami" in Egyptian, means "the Cat" or "He who belongs to the Cat astet. Id ...

on 12 December 2019 by incoming president

. Her seat in the Chamber of Deputies was replaced by Jimena López.

Personal life

Volnovich was in a relationship with the economist Iván Heyn until his death in 2011. She has a son.

Electoral history

References

External links

Profile at pami.org.ar
(in Spanish) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Volnovich, Luana 1979 births Living people Politicians from Rio de Janeiro (city) Brazilian emigrants to Argentina People from Berazategui Partido Argentine political scientists Members of La Cámpora Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies elected in Buenos Aires Province Argentine deputies 2023–2025 Argentine deputies 2017–2019 Argentine deputies 2015–2017 Women members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies 21st-century Argentine women politicians University of Buenos Aires alumni