Nora Morales de Cortiñas (22 March 1930 – 30 May 2024), better known as Nora (or "Norita") Cortiñas, was an Argentine social psychologist, activist and defender of human rights. She was a co-founder of Mothers of Plaza de Mayo and later of "Madres de Plaza de Mayo Línea Fundadora".

Career

Cortiñas was a social psychologist and professor at the Faculty of Economic Sciences at the

University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires ( es, Universidad de Buenos Aires, UBA) is a public university, public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Established in 1821, it is the premier institution of higher learning in the country and one o ...

. From 1998, she held the chair of "Economic Power and Human Rights". Her son, Gustavo Cortiñas, was a member of the

Justicialist Party The Justicialist Party ( es, Partido Justicialista, ; abbr. PJ) is a major political party in Argentina, and the largest branch within Peronism. Current president Alberto Fernández belongs to the Justicialist Party (and has, since 2021, served ...

and the

Montoneros Montoneros ( es, link=no, Movimiento Peronista Montonero-MPM) was an Argentine left-wing Peronist guerrilla organization, active throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. The name is an allusion to the 19th-century cavalry militias called Montoner ...

organization in

Villa 31 A ''villa miseria'' (), or just ''villa'', is the informal term for a type of shanty town slum found in Argentina, mostly around the largest urban settlements. Name The term is a noun phrase made up of the Spanish words ''villa'' (''village'', ' ...

neighborhood of

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

. He was arrested and disappeared in

Castelar Castelar is a city in Morón Partido (county), Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, some 30 km west of the nation's capital, the autonomous city of Buenos Aires. It forms part of the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area. Castelar is the wes ...

Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of th ...

, on 15 April 1977, when he was working in the

Argentine Ministry of Economy Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish ( masculine) or ( feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, ...

after having previously passed through National Institute of Statistics and Census of Argentina and the National Securities Commission, by members of the Armed Forces. From 1977, Cortiñas was part of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo Línea Fundadora, who demand that the authorities punish those guilty of the kidnappings, torture and forced disappearances of approximately 30,000 people during the

military dictatorship A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer. The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the m ...

from 1976 to 1983. She travelled through all continents calling for solidarity with the families of the disappeared and the punishment of those guilty of crimes against humanity in their country. As a university professor, she carried out analyses and studies on the relationship between the military dictatorship, foreign debt and the economic crisis in Argentina. Cortiñas showed her support for the cause of legal abortion, being a speaker at the Ni una menos march on 4 June 2018, in favor of it. Cortiñas died in Buenos Aires on 30 May 2024, at the age of 94.

Awards and honours

* 2000, Doctor Honoris Causa, Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium * 2004, Doctor Honoris Causa, National University of Salta * 2012, Doctor Honoris Causa, University of Buenos AiresLa UBA distinguió a Nora Cortiñas con el Doctorado Honoris Causa, 11 December 2012 * 2019, Doctor Honoris Causa,

National University of Entre Ríos The National University of Entre Ríos ( es, Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos, UNER) is an Argentine national university situated in the city of Concepción del Uruguay, Entre Ríos. See also *List of Argentine universities This is a list ...

* 2019, Human Rights Award from the Spanish Association for Human Rights, shared with Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cortinas, Nora 1930 births 2024 deaths Social psychologists People from Buenos Aires Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo