Fabiola Alicia Letelier del Solar (17 July 1929 – 18 November 2021) was a Chilean lawyer, noted for her activism and defense of human rights in Chile and Latin America. She was the founder and president of CODEPU (1980–1998), and a plaintiff lawyer in the case surrounding her brother Orlando Letelier's assassination in 1976. On 23 July 2018, she was awarded the National Human Rights Prize, awarded by the National Institute of Human Rights.

Early life and education

Letelier was born July 17, 1929, in

Temuco Temuco () is a city and commune, capital of the Cautín Province and of the Araucanía Region in southern Chile. The city is located south of Santiago. The city grew out from a fort of the same name established in 1881 during Chile's invasion ...

, Chile, the eldest of three children. Her father was a printer, and her mother was a poet and homemaker. She was raised largely in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

. She was encouraged to pursue opportunities normally closed to women, and graduated from law school at the

University of Chile The University of Chile ( es, Universidad de Chile) is a public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

in 1963.

Activism

Letelier became a lawyer and worked for the

Organization of American States The Organization of American States (OAS; es, Organización de los Estados Americanos, pt, Organização dos Estados Americanos, french: Organisation des États américains; ''OEA'') is an international organization that was founded on 30 April ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

There she was influenced by the

civil rights movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

. She began to focus on human rights after the

1973 Chilean coup d'état The 1973 Chilean coup d'état Enciclopedia Virtual > Historia > Historia de Chile > Del gobierno militar a la democracia" on LaTercera.cl. Retrieved 22 September 2006. In October 1972, Chile suffered the first of many strikes. Among the par ...

headed by

Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, , , ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Military Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1981, being declared President of ...

, and worked in Chile for the

Vicariate of Solidarity The Vicariate of Solidarity (La Vicaría de la Solidaridad) was a human rights organization in Chile during the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. Background On 11 September 1973 a military junta toppled Chilean President Salvador Al ...

, a Catholic human rights organization established during the Pinochet dictatorship. She took on the case of the execution of journalist

Charles Horman Charles Edmund Lazar Horman (May 15, 1942 – September 19, 1973) was an American journalist and documentary filmmaker. He was executed in Chile in the days following the 1973 Chilean coup d'état led by General Augusto Pinochet, which overthr ...

. Fabiola Letelier was the elder sister of

Orlando Letelier Marcos Orlando Letelier del Solar (13 April 1932 – 21 September 1976) was a Chilean economist, politician and diplomat during the presidency of Salvador Allende. A refugee from the military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet, Letelier ...

, Chile's ambassador to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and defense minister under

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Salvador Allende Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (, , ; 26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean physician and socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 3 November 1970 until his death on 11 September 1973. He was the fir ...

. As one of Chile's leading human rights lawyers, Fabiola pursued justice for her brother's assassination.

Personal life

Letelier married Fernando Leiva, with whom she had four children. They later divorced. She died from complications of

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

November 18, 2021, at her home in Santiago, Chile.

References

1929 births 2021 deaths Chilean women lawyers 20th-century Chilean lawyers 21st-century Chilean lawyers Chilean human rights activists 20th-century women lawyers 21st-century women lawyers People from Temuco {{Chile-law-bio-stub