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Concepción Picciotto (born María de la Inmaculada Concepción Martín; 15 January 1936 – 25 January 2016), also known as Conchita or Connie, was a Spanish-born, United States–based peace activist. She lived in
Picciotto died on 25 January 2016, 10 days after her 80th birthday, at N Street Village, a non-profit organization that supports homeless women in Washington. The cause of death was not immediately known but she experienced a fall moments before her death.
Interview with Concepción Picciotto
dcist.com; accessed 27 January 2016
"Connie Picciotto has kept vigil near the White House for 32 years. Why and at what cost?"
''Washington Post'', 2 May 2013
FBI File of Concepción Picciotto
{{DEFAULTSORT:Picciotto, Concepcion 1936 births 2016 deaths American anti–nuclear weapons activists People from Vigo Spanish emigrants to the United States People from Gravesend, Brooklyn
Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C.
Lafayette Square is a seven-acre (30,000 m2) public park located within President's Park, Washington, D.C., United States, directly north of the White House on H Street, bounded by Jackson Place on the west, Madison Place on the east and Pennsy ...
, on the 1600 block of Pennsylvania Avenue, in a peace camp across from the White House, from 1 August 1981 in protest of nuclear arms until her death.
Picciotto carried on the longest continuous act of political protest in the United States, with her camp having been nicknamed by her supporters as "1601 Pennsylvania Avenue".
Eleanor Holmes Norton, D.C.'s delegate to the House of Representatives, noted that many of Picciotto's goals were accomplished during her protest, including a reduction in atomic proliferation.
Life
Picciotto claimed to have been orphaned in Spain and raised by a grandmother. After arriving in the United States in 1960, she worked as a receptionist for a Spanish government commercial attaché in New York. She married an Italian immigrant (whose forename is unknown) and lived in the Gravesend section of Brooklyn, New York. She reportedly adopted an infant daughter, Olga, in Argentina in 1973. Picciotto was inspired by fellow activist William Thomas (died 23 January 2009), who originally began theWhite House Peace Vigil
The White House Peace Vigil is an anti-nuclear weapons peace vigil started by William Thomas in 1981. Thomas believed it to be the longest running uninterrupted anti-war protest in U.S. history.
After Thomas's death in 2009, it was maintained ...
on 3 June 1981. They began protesting on the sidewalk by the White House fence. National Park Service rules moved them across Pennsylvania Avenue. She was sentenced to 90 days for violating rules. They are moved for inaugural parades.
During her life she was assisted by members of Occupy Peace House where she resided.
She was reported to be in discussions with Ellen Thomas
Ellen Thomas (born January 24, 1947) is an American peace activist. She first became involved with the White House Peace Vigil on April 13, 1984. The daughter of a US Marine, Thomas was born in Brooklyn and grew up in California. She became opp ...
to remain in the Peace House, a house in Washington D.C. which Thomas had inherited from her husband, William Thomas.
Death
Picciotto died on 25 January 2016, 10 days after her 80th birthday, at N Street Village, a non-profit organization that supports homeless women in Washington. The cause of death was not immediately known but she experienced a fall moments before her death.
Appearances
Picciotto was featured inMichael Moore
Michael Francis Moore (born April 23, 1954) is an American filmmaker, author and left-wing activist. His works frequently address the topics of globalization and capitalism.
Moore won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for ' ...
's 2004 film, ''Fahrenheit 9/11
''Fahrenheit 9/11'' is a 2004 American documentary film directed, written by, and starring filmmaker, director, political commentator and activist Michael Moore. The film takes a liberal, critical look at the presidency of George W. Bush, the w ...
'', as well as in veb-films Route 66 mockumentary.
''The Oracles of Pennsylvania Avenue'' (2012) by Tim Wilkerson, a documentary commissioned by the Al Jazeera Documentary Channel
Al Jazeera Documentary Channel (Arabic: الجزيرة الوثائقية) is a pan-Arab satellite Arabic language film and documentary channel and a branch of the Al Jazeera Media Network based in Doha, Qatar.
It was launched at 12:00 GMT on 1 ...
, recounts the life of Picciotto, William and Ellen Thomas, and Norman Mayer
Norman David Mayer (March 31, 1916 – December 9, 1982) was an American anti-nuclear weapons activist who was shot and killed by the United States Park Police after threatening to blow up the Washington Monument.
Early life
Mayer was born in El ...
.
See also
* List of peace activists *Brian Haw
Brian William Haw (7 January 1949 – 18 June 2011) was an English protester and peace campaigner who lived for almost ten years in a peace camp in London's Parliament Square from 2001, in a protest against UK and US foreign policy. He bega ...
, an English protester who lived in a similar peace camp in Parliament Square, London
Parliament Square is a square at the northwest end of the Palace of Westminster in the City of Westminster in central London. Laid out in the 19th century, it features a large open green area in the centre with trees to its west, and it cont ...
for a decade, from 2001 until his death in 2011
* Gino Strada, an Italian protester and doctor, who founded ''Emergency'', a non-governmental organization to save human lives around the world.
References
External links
Interview with Concepción Picciotto
dcist.com; accessed 27 January 2016
"Connie Picciotto has kept vigil near the White House for 32 years. Why and at what cost?"
''Washington Post'', 2 May 2013
FBI File of Concepción Picciotto
{{DEFAULTSORT:Picciotto, Concepcion 1936 births 2016 deaths American anti–nuclear weapons activists People from Vigo Spanish emigrants to the United States People from Gravesend, Brooklyn