Ernesto Ottone

Assistant Director-General for Culture
UNESCO
Paris

Mr Ernesto Ottone is the Assistant Director-General for Culture of UNESCO. Prior to this position, Mr Ottone served as Chile’s first Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage from 2015 to 2018. As Minister of Culture, he created a Department of First Peoples, a Migrants Unit and strengthened copyright laws and heritage protections. During this time, he also chaired the Regional Centre for the Promotion of Books in Latin America and the Caribbean (2016–2017). From 2011 to 2015, Mr Ottone served as Director-General of the Artistic and Cultural Extension Center of the University of Chile, which manages the National Symphony Orchestra of Chile, the Chilean National Ballet (BANCH), the Chile Symphony Choir and the Vocal Camerata.