Eduardo Novoa Monreal

German Eduardo Novoa Monreal was a Chilean jurist and academic who lived from 1916 to 2006. He earned his law degree from the University of Chile in 1940 with highest honors, writing his thesis on consent theory in criminal law, and went on to teach criminal and civil law at several Chilean universities; his textbook Curso de Derecho Penal Chileno became a standard reference in the field. Novoa served as president of Chile's State Defense Council from 1970 to 1972 under President Salvador Allende and played a central part in drafting the legal text nationalizing Chile's copper industry. After the 1973 military coup he spent more than fifteen years in exile in Venezuela and Argentina, returning to Chile in 1987 but remaining barred from teaching until his death.