CHILE: Flora Sanhueza Rebolledo, Chilean teacher and revolutionary

 

Hayley Kemp

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HERstory: On this day, 18 September 1974, Flora Sanhueza Rebolledo, a Chilean teacher and revolutionary died as a result of the torture she suffered at the hands of the Pinochet regime aged 63. Earlier in life, she travelled to Spain in 1935 and took part in the social revolution during the Civil War. Following the fascist victory, she fled to France, where she was interned as a political prisoner until 1942. She returned to Chile and, inspired by working-class cultural associations of the earlier part of the century, she founded Ateneo Libertario Luisa Michel in Iquique for female weavers. Given the fact that this was during the dictatorship of Gabriel Gonzalez Videla and the fascist persecution of anarchists and communists, much of her work virtually took place in hiding. In 1953 it opened its door to children of working women too, changing its name to the Escuela Libertaria Luisa Michel. At its peak, it had more than 70 regular students, but it closed its doors in 1957. Flora was arrested and tortured following the Pinochet coup. Placed under house arrest, she subsequently died as a result of the injuries she sustained under torture. This is our archive of content about the coup: https://libcom.org/tags/chile-coup-73