“To create this new society, we must present outstretched and friendly hands, without hatred or rancor, even as we show great determination and never waver in the defense of truth and justice.” - Adolfo Pérez Esquivel

On November 26, 1931, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Adolfo’s father was a fisherman in Spain before he moving to Argentina, but had to resort to holding various odd jobs that paid very little to support his family after the move. Adolfo took a job selling newspapers when he was very young and worked as a gardener when he was 10 years old to help contribute to the family income. Adolfo’s mother died when he was just three years old, and therefore he was raised largely by his grandmother. His father was Catholic and his grandmother was Guarani Indian, giving Adolfo a unique spiritual perspective that would influence him throughout his life.

Argentina’s political history is one of great turmoil. With a military coup overthrowing the government every other year or so between 1930 and 1973, it was virtually impossible to maintain stability. In 1976, after yet another coup, a military dictatorship was installed which carried out Argentina’s “Dirty War.” The military dictatorship aimed its brutal crack down toward “opinion leaders”—artists, professors, school teachers, journalists, activists, and intellectuals. As movements began to grow against the dictatorship, the crack down became stronger. Censorship was strictly enforced and people who spoke out, or were suspected of “subversive” behavior were put in jail. Sometimes, arrests were made in the middle of the night and the friends and families of those detained would never hear from them again. The people who were taken this way are known as the ‘disappeared.’

In response to the disappearances, a group of women who were concerned about their missing children, husbands, and family members began to march in the prominent “Plaza de Mayo” (May Square), calling on the government to inform them about their children’s whereabouts. These women brought global attention to the disappearances happening in Argentina. Some of the women who founded this group were disappeared themselves. These practices of intimidation continued and worsened as the Military junta maintained power.

As an adult, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel trained as an architect and sculptor. In 1974, after becoming very concerned about the human rights abuses of local leaders who had been working for peace and democracy, he gave up teaching and devoted his time to nonviolence movements in Latin America. That same year, he was named secretary-general of the newly formed Servicio Paz y Justicia (Peace and Justice Service), which coordinates nonviolent activities in the region.

In 1977, Adolfo himself was “disappeared” and was tortured by the Argentinean military for 14 months. He was released after being named Amnesty International’s Political Prisoner of the Year in 1978 which led to thousands of letters being written to the Argentinean government demanding his release. Upon that release, Adolfo continued his work leading Servicio Paz y Justicia.

Adolfo Pérez Esquivel was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1980 for his leadership for human rights and true democracy for the people of Latin America. He has since started two “Peace Villages” which provide training and housing for homeless and orphaned children in Argentina. He also works with the “Mothers” and the “Grandmothers of May Square,” a groups of women working to bring about Truth and Justice with respect to the crimes of the dictatorship and to locate the children of the “disappeared” and reunite them with their biological families.

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