Jacobo Timerman
Encyclopedia
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
publisher, journalist, and author who was persecuted and honored for confronting the atrocities of the Argentine military regime's Dirty War
Dirty War
The Dirty War was a period of state-sponsored violence in Argentina from 1976 until 1983. Victims of the violence included several thousand left-wing activists, including trade unionists, students, journalists, Marxists, Peronist guerrillas and alleged sympathizers, either proved or suspected...
. Born in Bar
Bar, Ukraine
Bar is a city located on the Rov River in the Vinnytsia Oblast of western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Barskyi Raion , and is part of the historic region of Podolia. The current estimated population is 17,200 .-History:The city was a small trade outpost named Row...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, Timerman and his family emigrated to Argentina in 1928.
Work and imprisonment in Argentina
During the 1960s, Timerman established himself as a popular journalist, and, before the decade had come to a close, was already able to found two different weekly news magazines. Later, from 1971 to 1977, Timerman edited and published the left-leaning daily La OpiniónLa Opinión (Argentina)
La Opinión was an Argentine newspaper, founded by the journalist Jacobo Timerman in 1971. Its ideology was broadly centrist, inspired partly by the Paris daily Le Monde.-Development:...
. Under his leadership, this paper publicized news and criticisms of the human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
violations of the Argentine
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
government during the early years of the Dirty War
Dirty War
The Dirty War was a period of state-sponsored violence in Argentina from 1976 until 1983. Victims of the violence included several thousand left-wing activists, including trade unionists, students, journalists, Marxists, Peronist guerrillas and alleged sympathizers, either proved or suspected...
as a result of investigations about his relationship with David Graiver
David Graiver
David Graiver was an Argentine businessman and banker whose business interests would become the focus of investigations and intrigue during his short life, as well as since his death.-Early life and career:...
. On 15 April 1977, Timerman was arrested by the military. Thereafter, he was subjected to electric shock torture, beatings, and solitary confinement. These experiences were chronicled in his 1981 book Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a Number, and a 1983 movie by the same name.
However, it is normally overlooked that Timerman played a role in a mass media campaign to erode constitutional president Arturo Illia's reputation, which helped to prepare the way for a coup d'état. Mariano Grondona's columns in "Primera Plana" (a magazine directed by Timerman in the early 1960s), favored the military over the constitutional ruler. The Armed Forces who seized power in 1966, overthrowing president Illia, began a repressive and unpopular regime, characteristic for its violent actions against Argentina's universities and for its policy of establishing strict and conservative catholic morals.
Life in Israel
After his release from prison in September 1979, Timerman was forced into exile and went to Tel AvivTel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. A year after publishing Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a Number, he released The Longest War. This book was a detailed and personal response to the first few months of Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon.
Return to Argentina
Sometime after the publication of The Longest War, Timerman moved to MadridMadrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
and then to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. Finally, in 1984, he returned to Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
. Three years later, in 1987, Timerman released Chile: Death in the South, a critical examination of life under dictator Augusto Pinochet
Augusto Pinochet
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte, more commonly known as Augusto Pinochet , was a Chilean army general and dictator who assumed power in a coup d'état on 11 September 1973...
.
Timerman died in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
on 11 November 1999.
The Catholic priest Christian von Wernich, personal confessor of provincial chief of police Ramón Camps
Ramón Camps
Ramón Juan Camps was an Argentine general and the head of the Buenos Aires Provincial Police during the military dictatorship known as the National Reorganization Process...
, was convicted of involvement in his abduction and torture (and that of many others) on 9 October 2007.
Awards
In 1980, Timerman was awarded the Golden Pen of Freedom http://www.wan-press.org/article4489.html by the World Association of NewspapersWorld Association of Newspapers
The World Association of Newspapers is a non-profit, non-governmental organization made up of 76 national newspaper associations, 12 news agencies, 10 regional press organisations and individual newspaper executives in 100 countries...
in recognition of his courage in defending the right to free expression and press freedom. He received the Conscience-in-Media Award
Conscience-in-Media Award
The Conscience-in-Media Award is presented by the American Society of Journalists and Authors to journalists that the society deems worthy of recognition for their distinctive contributions. The award is not given out often, and is awarded to those journalists which the ASJA feels have...
in 1981, from the American Society of Journalists and Authors
American Society of Journalists and Authors
The American Society of Journalists and Authors was founded in 1948 as the Society of Magazine Writers, and is an organization of independent nonfiction writers in the United States...
. Also in 1981, he received the Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award
Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award
The Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award is awarded annually by the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Policy Studies. It is awarded to those advancing the cause of human rights in the Americas. The Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award commemorates Orlando Letelier and Ronni Moffitt, who in 1976...
from the Institute for Policy Studies
Institute for Policy Studies
Institute for Policy Studies is a left-wing think tank based in Washington, D.C..It has been directed by John Cavanagh since 1998- History :...
.
Family
Timerman has three sons. Héctor TimermanHéctor Timerman
Héctor Marcos Timerman is an Argentine journalist, sociologist, political and human rights activist, diplomat, and current Argentine Minister of Foreign Relations.-Life and times:...
is an author and journalist and currently serves as Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
's Foreign Minister. He was previously Consul in New York and was later appointed Ambassador to the United States of America in December 2007. Javier Timerman resides in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
with his wife and three children. Daniel Timerman lives in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
with his three children.
See also
- List of memoirs of political prisoners
- Los Angeles Times Book Prize
- The Hillman PrizeThe Hillman PrizeThe Hillman Prize is a journalism award given out annually by the Sidney Hillman Foundation, named for the noted American labor leader. It is given to "journalists, writers and public figures who pursue social justice and public policy for the common good." Murray Kempton was the first recipient,...
- Marshall MeyerMarshall MeyerRabbi Marshall T. Meyer was an American-born Conservative rabbi and a recognized international human rights activist. Marshall Theodore Meyer was born in New York City and raised in Norwich, Conn. He attended Dartmouth College, graduating in 1952...
- CWA Gold Dagger for Non-FictionCWA Gold Dagger for Non-FictionThe CWA Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction is a British literary award established in 1978 by the Crime Writers' Association, who have awarded the Gold Dagger fiction award since 1955....
- Héctor Germán OesterheldHéctor Germán OesterheldHéctor Germán Oesterheld , also known as his common abbreviation HGO, was an Argentine journalist and writer of graphic novels and comics who has come to be celebrated as a master in his field....
- List of war films based on books (post-1945)
- List of Peabody Award winners (1980–1989)