Searching for Life

The Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo and the Disappeared Children of Argentina

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by Rita Arditti

University of California Press

Due/Published March 1999, 251 pages, paper

ISBN 0520215702

Searching for Life traces the plight of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, a group of women who challenged the dictatorship that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983. Acting as both detectives and human rights advocates in an effort to find and recover their grandchildren, the Grandmothers identified fifty-seven of an estimated 500 children who had been kidnapped or born in detention centers. The Grandmothers' work also led to the creation of the National Genetic Data Bank, the only bank of its kind in the world, and to Article 8 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the "right to identity," that is now incorporated in the new adoption legislation in Argentina. Arditti conducted extensive interviews with twenty Grandmothers and twenty-five others connected with their work; her book is a testament to the courage, persistence, and strength of these "traditional" older women.

"An acute and impassioned observer, Rita Arditti describes Argentina's 'dirty war' years and the heroic struggle of a group of Argentine grandmothers who set out, against all odds, to trace the whereabouts of their disappeared children and grandchildren. Admirably comprehensive, Searching for Life reminds us how ordinary citizens can stand up to tyranny and prevail. Even today, the evidence collected by this tenacious group of detectives has led to the arrest of one of the military junta leaders, General Jorge Videla. The Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo are truly the unsung heroes of our time."--Eric Stover, Director, Human Rights Center, University of California, Berkeley