Donda, Victoria

Born while her mother was in ESMA, the secret torture center of the dictatorial regime. Her parents, Maria Hilda Perez de Donda and Jose Maria Laureano Donda, were grabbed for their mother’s participation in the left movement and are listed as “missing.”

At the same time, Victoria’s uncle, Adolfo’s father, Miguel Donda, was a naval officer responsible for the imprisonment, torture and murder of her parents - and as a result, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for his crimes against humanity (a total of 62 charges were brought against him ^{[ 1]} .

After the death of her mother, young Victoria was transferred to a strange family, and she did not know about her real biological parents. Moreover, her adoptive father himself was a military colonel, an accomplice in torture and repression ^[2] .

In 2003, with the help of the organizations “ Grandma Maya ” and HIJOS, a search was begun for her true origin, which was eventually established in 2004 using a DNA test ^[3] . Thus, she became the 78th granddaughter discovered by the “Grandmas of May Square”.

At this point, Victoria, not yet knowing her origin, was already engaged in social activities, human rights and the solution of the problem of poverty . At the age of 15, she joined the Movement of the Free from the South ( Movimiento Libres del Sur ) ^[4] . She worked in a free dining room , named after Asusena Villaflor , the founder of the “ Mother of May Square ” movement, also a victim of enforced “disappearance”. During the December 2001 protests, Victoria Donda participated in the capture of the Parliament building by an angry mob.

Studied as a lawyer at the University of Buenos Aires, became a lawyer and human rights activist ^[5] .

Joined the Free Movement from the south. In the 2007 elections , as part of the Front for Victory , she was elected to the lower house of the National Congress of Argentina , where she became the youngest woman deputy and the first deputy of the children abducted by the dictatorship during the Dirty War (about 500 such children were born in custody). The parliament noted a large number of bills and amendments introduced that expand the protection of human rights, including women and youth. Among other things, she was among the initiators of the campaign for the legalization of abortion ^[6] .

In the next election of 2011, she already went from the opposition Wide Progressive Front under the leadership of the socialist Hermes Binner ^[7] , then transformed into the “Progressists” socialist coalition ^[8] . In the 2015 parliamentary elections, she led the list of coalition and became the only one who went to Congress from her.

According to the testimony of those who knew them, the Victoria documentary directed by Adrian Jaime tells about the fate of parents of Victoria Donda. Daniel Ortiz's play “Two Sisters” ( Dos hermanas ), which describes her hypothetical meeting with her blood sister, is based on her story. A documentary of the same Ortiz and his co-author Gustavo Bobbio “Family by Blood” ( Familia de sangre ) also narrates about Victoria and her family.

• Jesus Piedra

• Victoria Donda. Mi nombre es Victoria. Una lucha por la identidad . Buenos Aires: Sudamericana, 2009.
  • Victoria Donda. My name is Victoria: the extraordinary story of one woman's struggle to reclaim her true identity . New York: Other Press, 2011.

• Victoria donda