Rosa Judith Cisneros
Rosa Judith Cisneros Aguilar (1938-1981) was a Salvadoran lawyer. She was active in the fields of human rights and family planning until her assassination in 1981.
Biography
[edit]Rosa Judith Cisneros was born in 1938. Her parents were Octavio Cisneros Ambrogi and Rosa del Carmen Aguilar de Cisneros.[1]
In 1971 she presented her doctoral thesis at the University of El Salvador.[1]
She was a member of the Episcopal Church. She never married.[2]
Positions held
[edit]- Executive director of the Salvadoran Demographic Association (Asociación Demográfica Salvadoreña), a private organization concerned with family planning.[3][4][5]
- Legal director of CREDHO, an Episcopal programme designed to assist the rural poor through agricultural cooperatives and legal help.[4][5]
- Legal adviser to the Salvadoran Communal Union, an organisation of peasants.[2]
- Lay leader in the Episcopal diocese of El Salvador.[5]
The assassination
[edit]At the time of her death the Salvadoran Civil War was in progress. Assassinations were frequent including that of Archbishop Romero in March 1980. Rodolfo Viera, a leader of the Salvadoran Communal Union, had been murdered in San Salvador on 3 January 1981, together with two US labour advisers. A member of the Episcopal Church who had died in the conflict was the South African ambassador, Archibald Dunn, after capture by a guerrilla group.[6]
On the morning of 18 August 1981, Rosa Judith Cisneros was leaving her house in a northern suburb of San Salvador when a carload of men halted her and dragged her to their car. An eyewitness reportedly saw her shot at close range with a submachine gun. The men did not identify themselves, nor did any group take responsibility for the killing.[2]
Presiding Episcopal Bishop John M. Allin, then in Dresden for the meeting of the World Council of Churches central committee, issued a statement which noted that the assassination "robs that nation of a devoted and talented leader. Her senseless murder is a personal tragedy for the Episcopal Church in El Salvador. As a lawyer, author, and champion of the rights of women, and courageous humanitarian, Dr. Cisneros won the respect and trust of the public community".[4]
Works
[edit]- Contract Law as a legal instrument for economic integration in Central America (doctoral thesis) (1971), Faculty of Jurisprudence and Social Sciences, University of El Salvador[1]
- The Juridical Condition of the Salvadoran Woman (Condición jurídica de la mujer salvadoreña) (1976), Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy[7][8]
- Child Health in a Changing World (La salud del niño en un mundo cambiante) (1978), Asociación Demográfica Salvadoreña[8][9]
- Family Planning Communications and Contraceptive Use in Guatemala, El Salvador and Panama (co-author) (1982), Studies in Family Planning Vol. 13, No. 6/7 (Jun - Jul 1982), pp. 190–199, publ. Population Council[3]
Recognition
[edit]Rosa Judith Cisneros received the John Nevin Sayre award of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship posthumously in 1985.[5]
Her name has been bestowed upon an Episcopal parish and upon the Our Little Roses mission for abused and abandoned girls in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Cover page of doctoral thesis, 1971
- ^ a b c Unknown Hoods slay Cisneros, The Bulletin, 19 August 1981
- ^ a b JSTOR digital archive
- ^ a b c Episcopalian Killed in El Salvador, Episcopal News Service, 20 August 1981, The Episcopal Church digital archives 1962-2006
- ^ a b c d e Susan Hill Lindley, Eleanor J. Stebner (eds.) (2008), The Westminster Handbook to Women in American Religious History, p. 42-43, Westminster John Knox Press (viewed through Google Books)
- ^ Official of a governing party is slain in El Salvador, UPI/New York Times, 11 October 1980
- ^ TROVE, National Library of Australia
- ^ a b Worldcat Identities
- ^ Google Books
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