Doris Gibson Parra del Riego (28 April 1910 – 23 August 2008) was a

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

vian magazine writer and publisher. She is most noted as the founder and editor of the

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

vian weekly

news magazine A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories, in greater depth than do newspapers or n ...

Caretas ''Caretas'' (Masks) is a weekly newsmagazine published in Lima, Peru, renowned for its investigative journalism. History ''Caretas'' was founded in October 1950 by Doris Gibson and Francisco Igartua. In the mid-1950s, Gibson's son, Enrique Z ...

''. She has been described as "a feminist before the movement had begun, and according to many, a visionary who influenced the course of Peru's recent history through the brave and defiant reporting of the magazine she created".

Life and work

Doris Gibson was born in

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...

but spent her early years in Arequipa. Her father was the Peruvian poet of Scottish/German ancestry Percy Gibson Moller. She married an Argentine diplomat, Manlio Zileri. They had one child,

Enrique Zileri Enrique Zileri Gibson (4 June 1931 – 24 August 2014) was the publisher of ''Caretas'' (Masks), Peru's leading newsmagazine, which was cofounded by his mother Doris Gibson. He ran the magazine as "a symbol of resistance" against successive Peru ...

, who also became an editor of ''Caretas''. She had a relationship with the artist,

Sérvulo Gutiérrez Sérvulo Gutiérrez Alarcón (1914 – 21 July 1961) was a Peruvian artist, described by ''The Times'' as "Peru’s most celebrated painter".

, for whom she was a muse as well as a lover. After Gibson and Gutiérrez had a heated argument, he rid himself of a full-size nude painting that he had executed of Gibson. He sold it to a well-off businessman. When she learned of the transaction, Gibson traveled to the businessman's house with a photographer and, on the pretext of needing daylight for a photograph, took the painting outside and promptly drove away with it. When the man later asked for its return, she responded, "I don't want to be nude in your house."

''Caretas''

Gibson started the weekly news magazine ''Caretas'' in 1950, using 10,000 soles which her uncle had lent her, along with a room and a typewriter. The first issue appeared in October 1950, but before the end of the year her operation was shut down by then-dictator

Manuel A. Odría Manuel Arturo Odría Amoretti (26 November 1896 – 18 February 1974) was a military officer who served as the 45th President of Peru, essentially ruling as a military dictator. Biography Early life and military career Manuel Odría was ...

(1948–1956). This pattern became familiar: the operation was closed five times by the government of Juan Velasco Alvarado (1975–1980) (in October 1969 Velasco ordered the arrest and deportation o Spainof then-editor Enrique Zileri Gibson). The operation was closed again under the regime of

Francisco Morales Bermúdez Francisco Remigio Morales Bermúdez Cerruti (4 October 1921 – 14 July 2022) was a Peruvian politician and general who was the ''de facto'' President of Peru (2nd President of the Revolutionary Government of the Armed Forces) between 1975 and ...

(1975–1980). The government of

Fernando Belaúnde Terry Fernando is a Spanish and Portuguese given name and a surname common in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Switzerland, former Spanish or Portuguese colonies in Latin America, Africa, the Philippines, India, and Sri Lanka. It is equivalent to the G ...

(1980–1985) awarded the magazine the '' Orden del Sol del Perú'', in recognition of its services. The government of

Alejandro Toledo Alejandro Celestino Toledo Manrique (; born 28 March 1946) is a Peruvian politician who served President of Peru, from 2001 to 2006. He gained international prominence after leading the opposition against president Alberto Fujimori, who held ...

(2001–2006) also awarded the magazine the Grand Cross of the '. Her grandson Marco Zilero Dougall was editor of the magazine when Doris Gibson Parra died in Lima.

Later life and death

Gibson Parra entered a Peruvian clinic in August 2008 for treatment of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

. She died there on 23 August 2008. She was predeceased by former husband Manlio Zileri. Peruvian President

Alan García Alan Gabriel Ludwig García Pérez (; 23 May 1949 – 17 April 2019) was a Peruvian politician who served as President of Peru for two non-consecutive terms from 1985 to 1990 and from 2006 to 2011. He was the second leader of the Peruvian Apris ...

and several of his ministers attended her wake.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibson Parra Del Riego, Doris 1910 births 2008 deaths Peruvian people of Scottish descent Peruvian people of German descent Peruvian people of Spanish descent Peruvian feminists Peruvian women activists People from Lima Peruvian women journalists 20th-century Peruvian women writers 21st-century Peruvian women writers 20th-century Peruvian writers 20th-century journalists