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His voice
Victor Lidio Jara Martínez was born on September 23, 1932. His parents were farm workers with minimal resources who lived on a plantation near the Chilean town of Lonquen. Chilean folksinger Victor Jara (1932–1973) was the voice of his country's dispossessed, an internationally admired songwriter, and one of the founders of a new genre of Latin American song. -
Seminary
during the two years, he spent at the seminary, "everything healthy, that implied a state of physical well-being, had to be put aside. Your body became a sort of burden that you were forced to bear." In 1952 Jara left the seminary, by mutual agreement with its instructors, and 10 days later he was drafted into the Chilean army. -
Theater
Jara maintained his interest in theater, studying stage direction at the university, frequently directing plays in Santiago. Jara enjoyed the music he heard and sang at the seminary, but he was not cut out for the requirements of the priesthood, particularly that of celibacy. -
Studding Stage
Jara maintained his interest in theater, studying stage direction at the university, frequently directing plays in Santiago (with sharper and sharper political content) in the 1960s, and even attending rehearsals of the Royal Shakespeare Company on a trip to Britain. -
His Wife
Joan Turner Bunster married victor in 1965 and raised a daughter, Amanda, along with Joan's daughter from her previous marriage. Joan Jara is a British-Chilean dancer, activist, and widow of Chilean icon, communist and folksinger Víctor Jara. Since his death, she dedicated herself to perpetuating the memory of him, his work, and his values. She wrote An Unfinished Song: The Life of Victor Jara in 1984, and founded the Víctor Jara Foundation. -
Albums
Jara released his first album, Canto a lo humans, in 1966. Early in his recording career, he showed a knack for antagonizing conservative Chileans, releasing a traditional comic song called "La Beata" that depicted a religious woman with a crush on the priest to whom she goes for confession. -
Cultural Renaissance
Jara composed "Venceremos" (We Will Triumph), the theme song of Allende's Unidad Popular (Popular Unity) movement, and he welcomed Allende's election to the Chilean presidency in 1970. Jara and his wife were key participants in a cultural renaissance that swept Chile, organizing cultural events that supported the country's new socialist government. -
Family
Victor has four siblings. Jara moved with his mother and siblings to the Chilean capital of Santiago, where his mother found work in a small restaurant. Their neighborhood was chaotic, filled with street gangs and noise, but Victor Jara and his brother Lalo always showed up on time at the local Catholic school. Victor got additional guitar lessons from a neighborhood resident who noticed that he was unusually talented at making up new songs. -
Arrested and Tortured
Jara was arrested shortly after the Chilean coup of 11 September 1973, which overthrew Allende. He was tortured during interrogations and ultimately shot dead, and his body was thrown out on the street of a shantytown in Santiago. According to detainees in the stadium who survived, Jara’s hands were smashed with the butt of a gun and he was badly beaten during his incarceration. When his body was found three days after his disappearance near a cemetery, it was found riddled with 44 bullet holes. -
ALO Time
In the early 2000s, Jara's recordings were reissued by AOL Time Warner in a handsome box set, and he also became the subject of several rock tribute albums by young Chilean musicians who venerated his courage. "They could kill him," Joan Jara told BBC News, "but they couldn't kill his songs." In 2003 the stadium where Jara spent his last days was renamed the Estadio Victor Jara.
