-
Birth
Victor was born September 28, 1932. Jara was raised in poverty by a farmer father and a folksinger mother. His full name was Víctor Lidio Jara Martínez. -
Family Struggle
In 1940 Poverty, alcohol abuse and violence of Jara's father placed the family under depression and among Victor's few positive memories of his childhood were the folk songs his mother liked to sing. To earn extra money they rented a room to a local schoolteacher, who also played the guitar and showed Victor how to produce a few chords. -
Schooling
In 1947, He left school at age 15 to prepare for the priesthood but gave up his studies to join the army, from which he was discharged after a year of service. He then studied theatre at the University of Chile. After his graduation he began working as a stage director, a position he continued even after his singing career took off. -
Jara's Mother
In 1947, Jara rarely saw his mother, who worked at one job or another for the entire day, and she died when he was 15. He was very upset by her death and sought help from a priest, who encouraged him to enter a seminary in the town of San Bernardo, near Santiago. Jara wanted to find another meaning to life after his mother died.7 -
Victors Wife
The other major influence on Jara in the late 1950s was Chilean folksinger Violeta Parra, who he heard and met at Santiago's Café São Paulo in 1957. It was Parra who steered folk music in Chile away from the rote reproduction of rural materials toward modern song composition rooted in traditional forms. Violeta tried to include folk music into the everyday life of modern Chileans, founding musical community centers called peñas. -
Victors Music
Jara released his first album, Canto a lo humano, in 1966. Early in his recording career he showed a natural skill 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. The song was banned on radio stations and removed from record shops, but the controversy only added to Jara's reputation among young and progressive Chileans. -
Fame
During the 1970s Jaras fame soon took over Chile and his work. His work was promoted by American folksingers like Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, and Phil Ochs. His fame completely took over all the Chilean nation with everyone loving his songs. -
Work
In 1973, Jara was overthrown by Salvador Allende and Pinochet. During this time his work became a great disturbance to the public all over Chile. Jara became very involved in many political debates. -
Struggles
On September 11 1973, thousands of Popular Unity members and supporters were arrested by Pinochet’s army and held in a football stadium. There, Jara was beaten many times and mocked after guards smashed his fingers and asked him to play guitar. He was also asked to sing songs to his fellow prisoners that were also locked in the stadium. -
Death
Jara later died on November 16 1973. Eight retired Chilean officers were arrested with charge of Jara's murder. Jara later became a nation icon again in Chile. -
Jail
In 2003, the same stadium Jara was killed in was renamed Victor Jara Stadium. Many of his songs are still popular today. Then finally all eight Chilean officers were officially sent to jail.
