Julia Esquivel Velásquez (May 3, 1930 – July 19, 2019) was a Guatemalan poet, theologian and human rights activist.

Biography

Esquivel was an academic at

San Carlos University The University of San Carlos, also referred to by its acronym USC or colloquially shortened to San Carlos, is a private, Catholic, research, coeducational basic and higher education institution administered by the Philippine Southern Province ...

, Guatemala, the ''Seminario Biblico Latinoamericano'' in

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

and the

Bossey Ecumenical Institute Bossey Ecumenical Institute is the ecumenical institute of the World Council of Churches. It was founded in 1946. The director of the Institute is Ioan Sauca. Degrees and other academic awards are accredited by the University of Geneva. It is sit ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. Her poetry was heavily influenced by the

Theology of Liberation Liberation theology is a Christian theological approach emphasizing the liberation of the oppressed. In certain contexts, it engages socio-economic analyses, with "social concern for the poor and political liberation for oppressed peoples". In ...

, which was widespread in Latin American Catholic communities in the 1950s and 1960s. She had initially requested to study theology at a Presbyterian seminary in Guatemala but was rejected on the basis of her sex. She moved to

in 1953 in order to study at the Latin America Biblical Seminary in

San José, Costa Rica San José (; meaning "Saint Joseph") is the capital and largest city of Costa Rica, and the capital of the province of the same name. It is in the center of the country, in the mid-west of the Central Valley, within San José Canton. San ...

instead. During her lifetime she received numerous death threats due to her raising concerns regarding the human rights of the Indigenous

Maya peoples The Maya peoples () are an ethnolinguistic group of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica. The ancient Maya civilization was formed by members of this group, and today's Maya are generally descended from people ...

and went into exile in 1980 in Switzerland. During this period of exile Esquivel spoke widely across Europe and North America about the plight of Maya, Quiché and other indigenous people in the Guatemalan genocide. She was the author of seven books including two collections of poetry ''Threatened with Resurrection'' (1982) and ''The Certainty of Spring'' (1993)''.'' In 1994, she received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Bern for her poetry which the University noted "gave voice to the suffering of the Guatemalan people in her spiritual poetry." Esquivel died in Guatemala City on July 19, 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Esquivel, Julia 1930 births 2019 deaths 20th-century Guatemalan poets Guatemalan human rights activists Guatemalan women human rights activists