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Adolfo Peres EskivelArgentine sculptor and human rights activist, Nobel Peace Prize, 1980
Date of Birth: 26.11.1931
Country:  Argentina |
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Adolfo Perez Esquivel: Argentine sculptor and defender of human rights, Nobel Peace Prize 1980
Adolfo Perez Esquivel, an Argentine sculptor and defender of human rights, was born in Buenos Aires. He lost his mother at a young age, and his father, a Spanish fisherman who had immigrated to Argentina, worked as a coffee company agent and was frequently away. Perez Esquivel's upbringing was greatly influenced by Roman Catholic priests, who he studied under in school. As a devout Catholic, he was inspired by the works of Mahatma Gandhi, St. Augustine, Thomas Merton, and other philosophers. During his youth, he actively engaged in discussions and became interested in applying the truths of the Gospel to contemporary South American life. At the same time, he began developing his notable artistic abilities and enrolled in the National School of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires, graduating in 1956. In October of the same year, he married pianist Amanda Perez, and they had three children together. Over the next 15 years, Perez Esquivel achieved a successful career as a sculptor. He began teaching art and architecture at the Manuel Belgrano National School of Fine Arts and other educational institutions. His works were widely exhibited in Argentina, and he received prestigious awards, including the National Prize. In his artwork, he incorporated motifs from pre-Columbian America, aiming to find expressive means rooted in American heritage that could convey contemporary concerns. Although Perez Esquivel considered himself apolitical, these "contemporary concerns" increasingly referred to the social and political unrest in the country. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Argentina was governed by the popular demagogue dictator Juan Peron, who came to power by attracting the poorest workers to his unions. While implementing social reforms, he frequently resorted to force and threats to maintain power. His strategy of pitting the working class against others caused serious damage to Argentine society. After a military coup, Peron was exiled to Spain. However, his political organization remained intact, and the situation in Argentina continued to deteriorate as Peronist unions posed threats to military and civilian leaders. Repressive government measures forced Peronists and leftists to organize partisan groups, and violence led to more violence. By the late 1960s, clashes between different political factions had eroded the democratic constitution to the point of almost nonexistence.
Activism and Imprisonment
In this context, Perez Esquivel could no longer remain indifferent to social problems. Distrustful of political parties, he began discussing with fellow countrymen how an ordinary Catholic should respond to the deepening social crisis. In 1968, he attended a conference of Argentine church, university, and civil organizations in Montevideo, Uruguay, where nonviolent ways to improve the situation in Argentina were discussed. In 1970, he embarked on a nearly two-month hunger strike to protest the terror from both the left and right. During the Second Conference in 1971, Perez Esquivel established the Service of Peace and Justice, which aimed to foster collaboration between socially active Catholic priests and laypeople in assisting the poor. At the end of 1971, he joined another Catholic organization founded on Gandhian principles of nonviolence. In urban neighborhoods, he organized workshops to promote self-sufficiency among the poor, embodying Gandhi's teachings on self-reliance. In 1972, he founded the monthly journal "Paz y Justicia" ("Peace and Justice"), which became the official publication of the Service of Peace and Justice. Two years later, when the organization's headquarters moved from Montevideo to Buenos Aires, Perez Esquivel became its chief coordinator.
Perez Esquivel's natural modesty led him to avoid fame, preferring to work behind the scenes and strengthen support for the Service of Peace and Justice among the masses. He stopped teaching and reduced his time for artistic work in order to coordinate the activities of the organization in Argentina and embark on trips throughout South America, where he advocated for nonviolent social change. Convinced that poverty was a problem throughout Latin America, Perez Esquivel helped indigenous people in Ecuador and Paraguay defend their land against encroachments. In Brazil (1975) and Ecuador (1976), he was arrested for criticizing the governments of these countries, which failed to alleviate the plight of the working class. Meanwhile, realizing the impossibility of restoring stability and order, the Argentine government invited Juan Peron back from Spain in 1973. The former dictator was greeted with enthusiasm and soon elected president, but he passed away the following year. Peron's widow, Isabel, succeeded him as president, and under her leadership, Argentina's economic situation became catastrophic. Inflation rates soared, corruption went unchecked, and a series of strikes paralyzed the country. On March 24, 1976, the military overthrew Isabel Peron, declaring martial law. Peronists and leftists protested against the military, but the government formed right-wing paramilitary organizations in response. Thousands of sympathizers of the left, seemingly many of whom were killed, disappeared. The remaining individuals were subjected to torture without any charges being brought against them and were eventually imprisoned or executed.
Protesting against state terrorism, Perez Esquivel, at great risk to his own life, began a campaign to investigate these disappearances. In 1975, he was among the organizers of the Permanent Assembly of Human Rights, which monitored the government's activities. Perez Esquivel also created the Ecumenical Movement for Human Rights, which provided assistance to prisoners and their families based on his interpretation of the Gospel's call to action. His quiet but unwavering opposition to the government made him a target for repression. When he was abroad in 1976, the headquarters of the Service of Peace and Justice was raided by the police. In April of the following year, Perez Esquivel was arrested while attempting to renew his passport. He spent 13 months in custody without being charged or given a trial. In response to numerous inquiries, the government simply stated that Perez Esquivel was arrested for subversive activities. After his release, he reluctantly spoke about his time in prison but confirmed that he had been subjected to torture.
During his imprisonment, Perez Esquivel was defended by Amnesty International; Maryknoll Corrigan and Betty Williams nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize. The collective efforts, including the protest of US President Carter, forced the Argentine government to release Perez Esquivel in May 1978. He was placed under house arrest for another nine months but was eventually able to resume his activities. In 1980, the government finally declared that the "left-wing threats" no longer existed. It was also during this time that Perez Esquivel called for negotiations with Chile regarding territorial disputes. In 1980, the Norwegian Nobel Committee selected Perez Esquivel as the laureate from among 57 candidates. In his speech, the committee representative, Sannes, described him as an "unrelenting guide of the principle of nonviolence in the struggle for socio-political freedoms." He stated that Perez Esquivel had ignited a light in the darkness that would not be extinguished. Among those who welcomed Perez Esquivel's selection was Soviet physicist Andrei Sakharov, who sent a message to the new laureate from his exile in Gorky (now Nizhny Novgorod): "The people living thousands of miles away in a different world highly value your energetic fight for justice and support for the oppressed." The majority of the sum received from the Nobel Committee was donated by Perez Esquivel to churches and various charitable organizations to assist those in need in South America.
The Nobel Prize brought global attention to Perez Esquivel, which was particularly important for mobilizing public and diplomatic pressure in favor of the "desaparecidos" – the 10,000 to 20,000 people (according to Perez Esquivel's estimates) who vanished in the late 1970s. Taking the risk once again, Perez Esquivel actively participated in the weekly demonstrations led by women who sought to draw attention to the fate of their disappeared relatives and friends. These demonstrations continued until 1984 when a commission appointed by the new government established that 9,600 people had been subjected to illegal repression. Many officers were brought to trial for these crimes.
Post-Prize Activism
Political violence in Argentina significantly decreased after 1984, but Perez Esquivel continued his work to improve the living conditions of the poor and oppressed throughout Latin America. As he stated, "we cannot only speak of human rights in relation to torture, prisons, and executions... We must also think about the peasant who is deprived of land and is dying of hunger."
