Professor Elisa Loncon Antileo

Born in Lefweluan, a Mapuche community in Wallmapu, Chile, Elisa is a native speaker of Mapuzugun, the Mapuche Indigenous language. She is a professor in the Department of Education at the University of Santiago in Chile. She holds a PhD in Humanities from Leiden University (the Netherlands), a PhD in Literature from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, and a Master's degree in Linguistics from the Metropolitan Autonomous University of Mexico. In 2021, Elisa served as President of the Chilean Constitutional Convention. She received the René Cassin International Human Rights Prize (2021) for her commitment to human rights and the Coppieters Award (Belgium, 2024) for her contributions to democracy and cultural diversity. Her research focuses on interculturality, Indigenous languages, and Indigenous ontologies. She is the author and co-author of several books, including Azmapu: A Mapuche Philosophy of Care (2026), Violeta Parra en el Wallmapu (2017). Her academic publications are available through her ORCID profile: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3239-1723.