# data[].attributes.body
Nací en Valladolid, Michoacán, Nueva España. Yo era un sacerdote católico mexicano y revolucionario que lideró la Guerra de Independencia de México. En 1812, para formar un gobierno y redactar una Constitución, llame al Congreso de Chilpancingo. El Congreso declaró la independencia de México en noviembre. En mi honor, el estado mexicano de Morelos y la ciudad de Morelia llevan mi nombre. Mi foto también está en la nota de 50 pesos.

# data[].attributes.body
Me llamo Rigoberta Menchú y soy de Guatemala. Yo era un activista para los humanos y en específico para la feminisima. También me gustaba apoyar a las personas nativas pero algunas personas no me gustaron para hacer eso. Me exilió de Guatemala y me fui a México para tener seguridad y salvar mi vida. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1992/tum/biographical/

- JJ Infantes

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
R igoberta Menchú was born on January 9, 1959 to a poor Indian peasant family and raised in the Quiche branch of the Mayan culture. In her early years she helped with the family farm work, either in the northern highlands where her family lived, or on the Pacific coast, where both adults and children went to pick coffee on the big plantations.

Rigoberta Menchú soon became involved in social reform activities through the Catholic Church, and became prominent in the women's rights movement when still only a teenager. Such reform work aroused considerable opposition in influential circles, especially after a guerilla organization established itself in the area. The Menchú family was accused of taking part in guerrilla activities and Rigoberta's father, Vicente, was imprisoned and tortured for allegedly having participated in the execution of a local plantation owner. After his release, he joined the recently founded Committee of the Peasant Union (CUC).

In 1979, Rigoberta, too, joined the CUC. That year her brother was arrested, tortured and killed by the army. The following year, her father was killed when security forces in the capital stormed the Spanish Embassy where he and some other peasants were staying. Shortly afterwards, her mother also died after having been arrested, tortured and raped. Rigoberta became increasingly active in the CUC, and taught herself Spanish as well as other Mayan languages than her native Quiche. In 1980, she figured prominently in a strike the CUC organized for better conditions for farm workers on the Pacific coast, and on May 1, 1981, she was active in large demonstrations in the capital. She joined the radical 31st of January Popular Front, in which her contribution chiefly consisted of educating the Indian peasant population in resistance to massive military oppression.

In 1981, Rigoberta Menchú had to go into hiding in Guatemala, and then flee to Mexico. That marked the beginning of a new phase in her life: as the organizer abroad of resistance to oppression in Guatemala and the struggle for Indian peasant peoples' rights. In 1982, she took part in the founding of the joint opposition body, The United Representation of the Guatemalan Opposition (RUOG). In 1983, she told her life story to Elisabeth Burgos Debray. The resulting book, called in English, I, Rigoberta Menchú, is a gripping human document which attracted considerable international attention. In 1986, Rigoberta Menchú became a member of the National Coordinating Committee of the CUC, and the following year she performed as the narrator in a powerful film called When the Mountains Tremble, about the struggles and sufferings of the Maya people. On at least three occasions, Rigoberta Menchú has returned to Guatemala to plead the cause of the Indian peasants, but death threats have forced her to return into exile.

Over the years, Rigoberta Menchú has become widely known as a leading advocate of Indian rights and ethno-cultural reconciliation, not only in Guatemala but in the Western Hemisphere generally, and her work has earned her several international awards.

This autobiography/biography was written at the time of the award and later published in the book series Les Prix Nobel/ Nobel Lectures/The Nobel Prizes. The information is sometimes updated with an addendum submitted by the Laureate.

Selected Bibliography

By Rigoberta Menchú Tum

Crossing Borders: An Autobiography. New York: Verso, 1998. (First published in Italian, October 1997, and in Spanish, April 1998.)

I, Rigoberta Menchú. An Indian Woman in Guatemala. Edited and introduced by Elisabeth Burgos-Debray. New York and London: Verso, 1984. (Her life story, based on a week of recorded interviews with the editor, a Latin American anthropologist, who revised and arranged the transcripts. The original Spanish title in 1983 was "My Name is Rigoberta Menchú and This is How My Consciousness Was Raised." Translated into more than twelve languages and received several international awards. The autobiography became a most influential image internationally of the atrocities committed by the Guatemalan army in peasant villages during the civil war. In 1999 a controversy arose over its credibility, see Stoll below.

Calvert, Peter. Guatemala. A Nation in Turmoil. Boulder and London: Westview Press, 1985. (Excellent historical introduction to Guatemala's social and economic problems, with the comparative perspective of other volumes in Westview's series on the Nations of Contemporary Latin America. By a British scholar.)

Hooks, Margaret, ed. Guatemalan Women Speak. Introduction by Rigoberta Menchú Tum. London: Catholic Institute for International Relations, 1991.

Perera, Victor. Unfinished Conquest. The Guatemalan Tragedy. Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: Univ. of California Press, 1993. (By a native Guatemalan, whose story of the civil conflict is based on both personal experience and scholarship. With an important bibliographical essay.)

Simon, Jean-Marie. Guatemala: Eternal Spring, Eternal Tyranny. New York: W.W. Norton, 1987.

Sommer, Doris. "No Secrets: Rigoberta's Guarded Truth." Women's Studies 20 (1991): 51-72. (Analyses I, Rigoberta as an example of women's testimonial literature and discusses implications of the contrasts between Rigoberta's mother tongue and Spanish, a hierarchical language with gender concepts very different from Quiché.)

Stoll, David. Menchú and the Story of All Poor Guatemalans. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1999. Stoll's critical examination of Rigoberta's autobiography, based on local interviews and documentary sources, shows that parts of her own and her family history are not correct, even when she speaks as an eyewitness of events described. Stoll approves of her Nobel prize and has no question about the picture of army atrocities which she presents. He says that her purpose in telling her story the way she did "enabled her to focus international condemnation on an institution that deserved it, the Guatemalan army". As an anthropologist who has studied the Mayan peasants, however, he feels that by inaccurately portraying the events in her own village as representative of what happened in all such indigenous villages in Guatemala, she gives a misleading interpretation of the relationship of the Mayan peasants to the revolutionary movement. Asked about Stoll's allegations, Professor Geir Lundestad, the secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, declared that the decision to award the prize to Menchú "was not based exclusively or primarily on the autobiography", and he dismissed any suggestion that the Committee should consider revoking the prize.

Tedlock, Dennis, transl. Popol Vuh: The Definitive Edition of the Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life and the Glories of Gods and Kings. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1985. (The sacred text of the Maya.)

This autobiography/biography was written at the time of the award and first published in the book series Les Prix Nobel. It was later edited and republished inNobel Lectures. To cite this document, always state the source as shown above.

To cite this section
MLA style: Rigoberta Menchú Tum - Biographical. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Media AB 2021. Thu. 20 May 2021. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1992/tum/biographical/>

Back to top

See them all presented here.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
R igoberta Menchú was born on January 9, 1959 to a poor Indian peasant family and raised in the Quiche branch of the Mayan culture. In her early years she helped with the family farm work, either in the northern highlands where her family lived, or on the Pacific coast, where both adults and children went to pick coffee on the big plantations.

# data[].attributes.body
Hola,
Mi nombre es César Chávez y fui activista de derechos civiles. Mi familia mudó a causa de la Gran Depresion. Dediqué mi vida a hacer buenos los derechos de los agricultores. Hice el National Farm Workers Association en 1962.

Fue difícil, pero mi trabajo valió la pena. Ayudé a pagar a los agricultores y a la unión.

Por último, ayudé con pesticidas. Cuando tenía 66 años, morí mientras dormía. Cuando tenía 66 años, morí mientras dormía, pero recibí un gran honor antes.

https://www.history.com/topics/hispanic-history/cesar-chavez

- Anna Siegle

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Cesar Chavez: Quotes, Death & Accomplishments - HISTORY

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Cesar Chavez, labor leader, civil rights activist and founder of the National Farm Workers Association, dedicated his life to the rights of farm workers.

# data[].attributes.body
Yo soy Manuela Saenz. Soy una mujer de Ecuador. Mi cumpleaños es el veintisiete de diciembre. El ano de mi cumpleaños es mil setecientos noventa y siete. yo era un niño ilegítimo, pero no dejo que me afecte. Soy una figura histórica importante para la libertad en Sudamérica. Yo trabajo en secreto contra la monarquía española. Mi esposo es Simón Bolívar. Porque soy mujer, no se me permite luchar. Pero, lucho por la libertad. Inspiró a mujeres jóvenes que no creen tener voz.

https://www.spanish.academy/blog/manuela-saenz-the-revolutionary-heroine-of-south-america/

M Murphy

# data[].attributes.body
Simon Bolivar

Hola, mi nombre es Simón Bolívar. Nací en 1783 y soy conocido como “El Libertador” después de convertirme en el líder más poderoso de América del Sur durante mi época. Aunque admiraba a los líderes revolucionarios estadounidenses como George Washington y Thomas Jefferson, rechazaba la esclavitud y trabajaba por su abolición en las Américas. Mi objetivo era unir a todos los países sudamericanos en una sola nación. Aunque no tuve éxito, ayudé a crear las naciones que hoy conocemos como Colombia, Panamá, Perú, Ecuador, Bolivia y Venezuela. Tanto las naciones como las monedas de Bolivia y Venezuela llevan mi nombre.

https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/simon-bolivar-day

S, Hasanzade

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Media Credits

The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit. The Rights Holder for media is the person or group credited.

other

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Jul 24, 1783 CE: Simon Bolivar Day | National Geographic Society

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Media Credits The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit. The Rights Holder for media is the person or group credited. other

# data[].attributes.body
Yo soy Toussaint L'Ouverture, fui líder del movimiento independentista haitiano durante la Revolución Francesa. Nací el 20 de mayo de 1743. Mi familia fue vendida como esclava y enviada al Caribe.
Yo leo a los clásicos ya los filósofos políticos. Los filósofos políticos de la Ilustración me influyeron mucho.
Yo fui la principal figura política y militar de las colonias. Es por eso que muchos ex esclavos me admiraban porque ayudé a liberarlos y esto contribuyó a los ideales democráticos que compartimos en Estados Unidos.  Yo acabar con la esclavitud.

https://www.biography.com/political-figure/toussaint-louverture

V, Autolino

# data[].attributes.body
Yo soy Berta Cáceres. Nací el 4 de Marzo de 1971. Tengo seis hijos. Yo fui activista por el medio ambiente. También soy un líder para la comunidad indígena. Lidero una campaña para salvar la represa de agua zarca. También creé una organización para proteger el medio ambiente de Honduras. Gané la Goldman Environmental Prize en 2015. Me encantó Honduras. ¡Me apasionaba! Me matron en 2016. Me disparó una arma. ¡Espero que otros defiendan el medio ambiente como yo!

Recursos:
https://www.goldmanprize.org/recipient/berta-caceres/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berta_C%C3%A1ceres

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In a country with growing socioeconomic inequality and human rights violations, Berta Cáceres (d. 2016) rallied the indigenous Lenca people of Honduras and waged a grassroots campaign that successfully pressured the world's largest dam builder to pull out of the Agua Zarca Dam.
Since the 2009 coup, Honduras has witnessed an explosive growth in environmentally destructive megaprojects that would displace indigenous communities. Almost 30 percent of the country's land was earmarked for mining concessions, creating a demand for cheap energy to power future mining operations. To meet this need, the government approved hundreds of dam projects around the country, privatizing rivers, land, and uprooting communities.

Among them was the Agua Zarca Dam, a joint project of Honduran company Desarrollos Energéticos SA (DESA) and Chinese state-owned Sinohydro, the world's largest dam developer. Agua Zarca, slated for construction on the sacred Gualcarque River, was pushed through without consulting the indigenous Lenca people-a violation of international treaties governing indigenous peoples' rights. The dam would cut off the supply of water, food and medicine for hundreds of Lenca people and violate their right to sustainably manage and live off their land.

Berta Cáceres, a Lenca woman, grew up during the violence that swept through Central America in the 1980s. Her mother, a midwife and social activist, took in and cared for refugees from El Salvador, teaching her young children the value of standing up for disenfranchised people.

Cáceres grew up to become a student activist and in 1993, she cofounded the National Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) to address the growing threats posed to Lenca communities by illegal logging, fight for their territorial rights and improve their livelihoods.

In 2006, community members from Rio Blanco came to COPINH asking for help. They had witnessed an influx of machinery and construction equipment coming into their town. They had no idea what the construction was for or who was behind the project. What they knew was that an aggression against the river-a place of spiritual importance to the Lenca people-was an act against the community, its free will, and its autonomy.

With mandates from local community members at every step of the way, Cáceres began mounting a campaign against the Agua Zarca Dam. She filed complaints with government authorities, bringing along community representatives on trips to Tegucigalpa. She organized a local assembly where community members formally voted against the dam, and led a protest where people peacefully demanded their rightful say in the project.

The campaign also reached out to the international community, bringing the case to the Inter-American Human Rights Commission and lodging appeals against the project's funders such as the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank.

Ignoring these appeals, the national government and local mayors forged ahead. They doctored minutes from a community meeting to paint a false picture of unanimous approval for the dam, and offered cash to local people in exchange for their signature on documents declaring their support.

In April 2013, Cáceres organized a road blockade to prevent DESA's access to the dam site. Using a carefully organized system of alerts to keep everyone in the loop, the Lenca people maintained a heavy but peaceful presence, rotating out friends and family members for weeks at a time. For well over a year, the blockade withstood multiple eviction attempts and violent attacks from militarized security contractors and the Honduran armed forces.

Honduras' violent climate is well known to many, but few understand that environmental and human rights activists are its victims. Tomas Garcia, a community leader from Rio Blanco, was shot and killed during a peaceful protest at the dam office. Others have been attacked with machetes, discredited, detained, and tortured. None of the perpetrators have been brought to justice.

Against these odds, Cáceres and the Lenca community's efforts successfully kept construction equipment out of the proposed dam site. In late 2013, Sinohydro terminated its contract with DESA, publicly citing ongoing community resistance and outrage following Tomas' death. Agua Zarca suffered another blow when the IFC withdrew its funding, citing concerns about human rights violations. To date, construction on the project has effectively come to a halt.

Death threats to Cáceres continued until March 3, 2016, when she was killed by gunmen in her home in La Esperanza, Honduras. Her death, followed by the killing of her colleague and fellow COPINH member Nelson García just 12 days later, sparked international outrage. Dutch development bank FMO and FinnFund have since suspended their involvement in the Agua Zarca project.

A Honduran court ruled in 2018 that executives of DESA ordered the killing of Cáceres. Seven men were found guilty of the murder and sentenced to 30 to 50 years. The president of DESA has been arrested and the case is ongoing. Cáceres' family continues to seek justice through a thorough investigation of the intellectual authors of her murder. COPINH and fellow activists continue her enduring legacy, fighting irresponsible development and standing up for the rights of the Lenca people in Honduras.

Expand to Read More Collapse

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Berta Cáceres - Goldman Environmental Foundation

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In a country with growing socioeconomic inequality and human rights violations, Berta Cáceres (d. 2016) rallied the indigenous Lenca people of Honduras and waged a grassroots campaign that successfully pressured the world's largest dam builder to pull out of the Agua Zarca Dam.

# data[].attributes.body
Me llamo Tupac Amaru. Fue nací en 1545. Ascendí al trono de Inca Imperio después de morí de mi hermano mayor, Pedro Pando, luchi durante la conquista de España. Fue capturé y fue bauticé. Ultima mi general y yo fueron murieron. Fui último Inca Lord. Yo represente la población indígena de Perú lucha durante la conquista de España.

-Sean Newby-Lowery

https://www.thoughtco.com/biography-of-tupac-amaru-2136549

# data[].attributes.body
¡Hola!

Me llamo José María Morelos. Nací en la ciudad de Valladolid, Nueva España, en la actualidad, Morelia, Michoacán, México en año 1775. Fui un sacerdote católico y líder militar durante la Guerra de Independencia de México (1810-1815). Cuando tenía 35 años, escribí un documento se llama Sentimientos de la Nación, en lo cual declaré la independencia de Mexico de España, establecí un gobierno democrático, y abolí la esclavitud. Mientras luchaba en mi cuarta campaña militar, me capturaron soldados españolos. Después de un juicio, me ejecutaron por pelotón de fusilamiento el día de 22 de diciembre de 1815.

Fuente https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Mar%C3%ADa_Morelos

Amin Kraimeche

# data[].attributes.body
Yo soy María Elena Moyano Delgado. Nací en Villa El Salvador en Perú, y yo viví ahí toda mi vida. En mi vida, yo era una activista para mujeres, y una revolucionaria para las personas, pero algunas personas me llamaron una “revisionista”. Ayudé a construir escuelas para los niños y   cocinas para las personas que no tenían . Yo era el presidente de una organización llamada “FEPOMUVES”, que ayudó a las mujeres en mi comunidad. En mi tiempo, Perú era corrupta, y tenía un grupo terrorista llamado Shining Path. Porque yo hable de como el Gobierno y Shining Path eran corruptos, y porque yo protesté la corrupción, yo fui asesinada. Cientos de miles de personas fueron a mi funeral, y mi muerte es una razón grande que el Gobierno perdió mucho apoyo.

Kyleigh McGinnis

https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/maria-elena-moyano-delgado-1958-1992/

# data[].attributes.body
¡Hola!

Me llamo Toussaint L' Ouverture. Ayudé a llevar a muchas personas anteriormente esclavizadas a la libertad. Desde mi nacimiento, el 20 de mayo de 1743, supe que estaba destinado a independizar a Haití de Francia. Valoro la libertad y sé que muchos de mis hermanos y hermanas Estadounidenses comparten esos mismos ideales desde que lucharon por la independencia de los Británicos. Aunque mi lucha fue por la independencia y la libertad de los ciudadanos que eran esclavos en Haití. Me alegro de haber inspirado a muchas personas en todo el mundo a tomar una posición y abogar por la libertad y la independencia para todas las personas.
Fuentes Citadas: https://slaveryandremembrance.org/people/person/?id=PP052

(Glenda Patterson)

# data[].attributes.body
Hola, mi nombre es Elvia Carrillo Puerto.  Nací el 6 de Diciembre de 1878 y soy de Yucatan, Mexico.  Soy una activista política y soy considerada la primera feminista en la historia de México.  Mis acciones llevaron al establecimiento del derecho de voto femenino.  También soy la primera mujer en ser elegida en la legislatura estatal de Yucatán.  Gracias a mí, México se convirtió en el primer país de Occidente en legalizar el control de la natalidad.

https://www.spanish.academy/blog/mexicos-first-feminist-elvia-carrillo-puerto/

Katia McCuen

# data[].attributes.body
Hola, me llamo Dolores Huerta y yo tengo noventa y dos anos. Soy de Dawson, New Mexico. Mis padres eran personas muy trabajadoras y me inspiraron a hacer lo mismo. Yo empecé mi trabajo co-fundando pequeñas organizaciones para ayudar a las personas necesitadas.Una de las cosas más importantes que hice fue organizar una huelga de 5.000 trabajadores agrícolas. Pude conseguirles condiciones de trabajo seguras, buen salario y beneficios. ¡Esto era solo el principio! Continué haciendo muchos más de estos ataques.Ser una mujer de color rodeada de hombres no siempre fue fácil, ¡pero espero inspirar a otras personas como yo a hacer lo mismo!

Michals, Edited by Debra. “Biography: Dolores Huerta.” Dolores Huerta Biography, https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/dolores-huerta.

Kathryn Shangraw

# data[].attributes.body
Hola, me llamaba César Chávez. Nací en Yuma, Arizona en el 31 del Marzo de 1927. Era un mexicoamericano activista para derechos laborales y derechos civiles. Fundé el National Farmer Workers Association, el cual combiné con el Agricultural Worker's Organizing Committee para formé el United Farm Workers of America en 1971. Uno de mis lorgos más grandes era una huelga contra agricultores de uvas de California en 1965, que resultó en el derecho a sindicalizar para los trabajadores. Hacía huelgas de hambre, usaba métodos no violentos, y negociaba con jefes. Morí en el 23 de Abril de 1993.

-Dahlia Sherif
Fuente: https://www.history.com/topics/hispanic-history/cesar-chavez

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Cesar Chavez: Quotes, Death & Accomplishments - HISTORY

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Cesar Chavez, labor leader, civil rights activist and founder of the National Farm Workers Association, dedicated his life to the rights of farm workers.

# data[].attributes.body
Hola, me llamo César Chavez. Nací in Yuma, Arizona en el 31 de marzo de 1927. Durante mi vida, era un activismo para los derechos civiles para la gente común. Soy de Arizona pero me mudé a California en 1937 donde trabajé en granjas y donde vi a los agricultores ser tratados injustamente. Formé sindicatos para luchar contra estas injusticias. Algunas de las organizaciones que ayudé a formar son el Community Service Organization y la National Farm Workers Association (NFWA). Además, trabajé con el senador Kennedy y el activismo Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. durante mi vida. Tuve 8 hijos con mi esposa Helen y morí en abril de 1933.

- Jua Vang
http://www.cesarchavezholiday.org/aboutcesarechavez.html#:~:text=Cesar%20Chavez%20was%20born%20on,where%20they%20became%20migrant%20workers.

# data[].attributes.body
¡Hola! Yo me llamo Juana Belén Gutiérrez de Mendoza. Yo nací en Durango, México en el año mil ochocientos setenta y cinco. No nací con mucha pobreza mi papa era mestizo. Al año mil novecientos y uno me convertí en maestra. Yo era un feminista y en mi vida hable mucho sobre la injusticia y opresión de nuestro presidente a el tiempo, Porfirio Diaz,. Yo y mi amiga Elisa Acuña y Rossetti formamos un periódico de distribución semanal que se llamaba Vésper. Yo también serví como un coronel en el militar de Zapata. Yo morí en la ciudad de México en el trece de julio 1942.

M. Tristan

Gutiérrez de Mendoza, Juana Belén (1875–1942) | Encyclopedia.com

# data[].attributes.body
¡Hola! Me llamo Domitila Barrios de Chúngara. Yo soy de Bolivia. Nací el 7 de mayo de 1937 en Pulacayo, Bolivia. Yo era una líder sindical y feminista. Yo creo que por mí las mujeres pueden trabajar hoy. Por ejemplo, estuve en el comité de amas de casa. Las amas de casa no se les permitía trabajar. Nosotros no comimios para diez días. Me convertí en líder e inspiré a las mujeres.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domitila_Ch%C3%BAngara

Gautam Kumar

# data[].attributes.body
Hola mi nombre es Roberto Kozak, ayudé a muchas personas a escapar de las prisiones y escuadrones de la muerte de la dictadura chilena. Logré tener acceso a militares muy poderosos, políticos, funcionarios y miembros de la policía secreta para alcanzar mi objetivo y ayudar a los prisioneros. Fui nombrado Schindler de América Latina por la ayuda que generosamente había dado a los prisioneros.

Moore

https://wystawy.sprawiedliwi.org.pl/wystaw
a/sprawiedliwi-bez-granic/en/home/know-
the-righteous/roberto-kozak/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Kozak

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Latin America’s Schindler: a forgotten hero of the 20th century

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Long Read: Under General Pinochet’s rule of terror in Chile, one man saved thousands of people from the dictator’s brutal secret police. How did Roberto Kozak do it – and escape death?