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ARGENTINA | 09-09-2024 14:12

Madres de Plaza de Mayo activist Herenia Sánchez de Viamonte dies at 97

Tributes paid to human rights activist and teacher, who passed away at the age of 97; Sánchez de Viamonte, who co-founded La Plata branch of Madres de Plaza de Mayo, remembered for tireless search for her son and daughter-in-law, who were kidnapped by the military dictatorship in 1977.

Tributes have been paid to human rights activist and educator Herenia Sánchez de Viamonte, who died on Sunday at the age of 97.

The well-known activist from La Plata, who was a primary school teacher before the disappearance of her son and daughter-in-law in 1977 changed the course of her life, passed away on Sunday, September 8, her family informed. 

Her strident defence of human rights saw her named as an “illustrious citizen” by the La Plata City Council and Buenos Aires Province Legislature in 2022. 

The provincial government granted her another honour the following year, recognising “her outstanding career in the field of human rights.”

Sánchez de Viamonte was a key leader in the La Plata branch of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo human rights group, co-founding its headquarters in the city during the era of state terrorism during the 1976-1983 military dictatorship.

On October 27, 1977, a year and a half into the junta’s reign of terror, Herenia’s son Santiago and his wife Cecilia Eguia were abducted in Mar del Plata, along with Otilio Pascua and Pablo Balut, two of her son’s former teammates at a rugby club in La Plata.

All four were taken to a clandestine detention centre at the Mar del Plata Naval Base where they were tortured and held. They were never seen again.

Santiago and Cecilia’s daughters, three-year-old Verónica and two-year-old Celina, were left in the care of Herenia and her family. 

Human rights organisations filed habeas corpus writs with the courts, while Sánchez de Viamonte personally met with the authorities of various public institutions, organisations and churches, in a desperate search to find her son and daughter-in-law.

Sánchez Viamonte dedicated much of her life to teaching. She worked as a primary school teacher and history teacher at the Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires, as well as at the Bachillerato de Bellas Artes. She was the founder of the Escuela de Enseñanza Media N°2 institution in La Plata and served as a professor and vice-principal at the Escuela de Comercio Manuel Belgrano.

In interviews later in life, she recalled how she saw students and colleagues would disappear from one day to the next. Her nephew, Hernán Toca, suffered the same fate.

Among those paying tribute to the tireless defender of human rights was former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who wrote on social media that Sánchez de Viamonte is “always in my heart.”

She celebrated that now the grandmother could be with her “beloved son.”

Buenos Aires Province Governor Axel Kicillof also celebrated the life of “dear Herenia.”

“We will remember and honour you every day as you taught us, fighting tirelessly to build a fairer country,” he posted on social media.

The Municipality of La Plata, the National University of La Plata, the H.I.J.O.S. human rights group, and Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo also paid fond tribute, with many remembering her kindness and warmth.
 

– TIMES/NA
 

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