Mother of Plaza de Mayo Herenia Sánchez Viamonte passed away on Sunday, August 8, at 97. Her passing was announced online by the rights group, who expressed their admiration  for her dedication to the struggle for memory, truth and justice.

Sánchez Viamonte taught history at Buenos Aires’s famous Colegio Nacional secondary school, as well as teaching at primary level, and founded a middle school in La Plata. 

She joined the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo after her son, Santiago Sánchez Viamonte, 25, was kidnapped together with his wife, Cecilia Eguia, 23, from their home in Mar del Plata on October 24, 1977. The couple were both members of the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party, and had two young daughters. Otilio Pascua and Pablo Balut, who like Santiago were avid rugby players, were disappeared in the same operation.

The couple had moved to Mar del Plata in 1975, after their cousin Hernán Rocca — Herenia’s nephew — was murdered by the Concentración Nacional Universitaria (National University Concentration), a right-wing Peronist group with fascist ideology.

Santiago and Cecilia were taken to the Mar del Plata naval base clandestine detention center. Their fate after that is not known. Both remain disappeared to this day. Their daughters were raised by Cecilia’s parents.

After democracy was restored, Herenia became a regular at the La Plata Fifth Precinct memorial site, in La Plata city center. She received multiple awards and honors for her human rights work. The National University of La Plata awarded her an honorary doctorate in November 2023.

Tributes to Sánchez poured in from political figures including Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. “My dear Herenia, a tireless fighter who’s finally reached peace,” the former president wrote. “Always in my heart, now together with your beloved son.”

“Herenia, we miss you,” wrote the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo — Founding Line. “Fly high, because you reached great heights fighting for truth and justice.”