Leonardo Henrichsen (May 29, 1940 – June 29, 1973) was an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

and

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

photojournalist Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (suc ...

Life and times

Leonardo Henrichsen was born to

civil engineer Kjell Henrichsen from

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

and an

English Argentine English Argentines (also known as Anglo-Argentines) are citizens of Argentina or the children of Argentine citizens brought up in Argentina, who can claim ancestry originating in England. The English settlement in Argentina (the arrival of E ...

mother in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

. Given a

film camera A movie camera (also known as a film camera and cine-camera) is a type of photographic camera that rapidly takes a sequence of photographs, either onto film stock or an image sensor, in order to produce a moving image to display on a screen. In c ...

as a gift during childhood, he secured an

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulat ...

in ''Sucesos Argentinos'', the premier producer of

newsreel A newsreel is a form of short documentary film, containing news, news stories and items of topical interest, that was prevalent between the 1910s and the mid 1970s. Typically presented in a Movie theater, cinema, newsreels were a source of cu ...

s in Argentina since its establishment in 1938. Mentored by

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

photojournalist Tadeo Bortnowski, Henrichsen was influenced by his teacher's experience as a

war correspondent A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories first-hand from a war, war zone. War correspondence stands as one of journalism's most important and impactful forms. War correspondents operate in the most conflict-ridden parts of the wor ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Following ''Sucesos Argentinos closure in 1955, Henrichsen was hired by Channel 13 Public Television, where he eventually became a leading international news cameraman. He married Patricia Mac Farlane in 1962, with whom he had three children. The violent 1964 coup against

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

President Juan Bosch became the first coup d'état Henrichsen covered in that capacity. His coverage of the 1969 Argentine student/labor uprising known as the ''

Cordobazo The ''Cordobazo'' was a civil uprising in the city of Córdoba, Argentina at the end of May 1969. It occurred a few days after the '' Rosariazo'' protests erupted in the Santa Fe Province against the military dictatorship of General Juan Carlos ...

'' (whose first serious incidents erupted on his 29th birthday) brought Henrichsen to the attention of Swedish Public Television (SVT), and he was hired later in 1969.

Death

SVT enlisted Henrichsen, who had covered 14 violent coups for their current events program, ''

Rapport Rapport ( ; ) is a close and harmonious relationship in which the people or groups concerned are "in sync" with each other, understand each other's feelings or ideas, and communicate smoothly. The word derives from the French language, French ve ...

'', to their bureau in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

. Working with chief correspondent Jan Sandquist, his first assignment there was during a massive, October 1972 truckers' strike in protest over the program of

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being advanced by Chile's Socialist President,

Salvador Allende Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 1970 until Death of Salvador Allende, his death in 1973 Chilean coup d'état, 1973. As a ...

. On the morning of June 29, 1973, the day of the attempted military coup known as the ''

Tanquetazo ''El Tanquetazo'' or ''El Tancazo'' (Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Span ...

'', as Henrichsen had breakfast at the café in the Hotel Crillón (across

La Moneda Palacio de La Moneda (, ''Palace of the Mint''), or simply La Moneda, is the seat of the president of the Republic of Chile. It also houses the offices of three cabinet ministers: Interior, General Secretariat of the Presidency, and General Sec ...

Presidential Palace in downtown Santiago), the sound of gunfire erupted outside, leading him and Sandquist to rush to cover the event. As he began filming, a detachment in a mutineering

Chilean Army The Chilean Army () is the land arm of the Chilean Armed Forces. This 80,000-person army (9,200 of which are conscripts) is organized into six divisions, an army aviation brigade and a special operations brigade. In recent years, and after sever ...

regiment attempting to storm La Moneda, attacked protesters and bystanders nearby and, noticing him and his camera, the ranking officer, Corporal Héctor Bustamante Gómez shot his pistol at Henrichsen, prompting his men to fire, as well. Appealing to them that they cease firing at two journalists, Henrichsen was struck by the third shot (from an as-yet-unidentified conscript), causing him to collapse in Sandquist's arms while still filming. He was 33. This happened two weeks before Henrichsen was supposed to go on his first-ever trip to Sweden and to his father's home town of Gothenburg. Corporal Bustamante visibly attempted to destroy the evidence, seizing Henrichsen's

Éclair An éclair ( or , ; ) is a pastry made with choux dough filled with a cream and topped with a flavored icing. The dough, which is the same as that used for profiteroles, is typically piped into an oblong shape with a pastry bag and baked u ...

16 II camera and pulling the film out. The Éclair, however, possessed a second, backup chamber, where the event remained recorded and from which Sandquist was able to distribute the footage on July 24. Lieutenant Colonel Roberto Souper and the other participants in the failed coup attempt against President Allende were given refuge in the Embassy of

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(whose dictatorship was hostile to Allende). Promoted to a high-ranking post within Chile's intelligence services (

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) following the September 11, 1973, coup against Allende, Souper continues to enjoy impunity and Corporal Bustamante had no charges brought against him until his role in the murder was confirmed by Chilean documentarian Ernesto Carmona in January 2005, following his 7-year-long investigation. Josephine and Andrés Henrichsen (the journalist's daughter and son) filed a

wrongful death Wrongful death is a type of legal claim or cause of action against a person who can be held liable for a death. The claim is brought in a civil action, usually by close relatives, as authorized by statute. In wrongful death cases, survivors are ...

suit against Bustamante on October 28, 2005. Chilean criminal court Judge Rommy Rutherford ruled that the case had expired its

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, though after reviewing the case, Chilean

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Judge Jorge Zepeda Arancibia ordered a reopening of the investigation into the deaths of Leonardo Henrichsen and three other Argentines murdered there in 1973. Bustamante died on December 18, 2007, while awaiting trial in

Arica, Chile Arica ( ; ) is a commune and a port city with a population of 222,619 in the Arica Province of northern Chile's Arica y Parinacota Region. It is Chile's northernmost city, being located only south of the border with Peru. The city is the cap ...

. In 1989, the

Argentine Congress The National Congress of Argentina () is the legislative branch of the government of Argentina. Its composition is bicameral, constituted by a 72-seat Senate and a 257-seat Chamber of Deputies. The Senate, a third of whose members are elected to ...

established June 29 as the 'National day of the cameraman' in Henrichsen's memory.29 de junio “Día Nacional de Camarógrafo Argentino"
by Modesto E. Guerrero

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henrichsen, Leonardo 1940 births 1973 deaths Assassinated Argentine journalists Swedish male journalists Argentine male journalists Argentine people of Swedish descent Argentine people of English descent Assassinated Swedish journalists Filmed killings Deaths by firearm in Chile 20th-century Swedish journalists 20th-century Argentine journalists