Maria
Julia Hernández Chavarría was a leading human rights advocate for the victims
of the civil war in El Salvador. She was born to a wealthy family, but felt compassion
for the poor at an early age. As a child, she thought she could help by entering
a religious order, but instead studied law and later became a professor of human
rights and international law in El Salvador.
In 1977, after a Jesuit priest who had been helping the poor was murdered, she
met Archbishop Oscar Romero who had led the public mass for the murdered priest.
In his message that day she heard her calling. She had witnessed great suffering
in this war-ravaged country and she knew that she had to dedicate her life to
protecting the human rights of the Salvadorian people.
In
1982, she became the Founding Director of Tutela Legal (Legal Protection), the
Human Rights Office of the Archdiocese of San Salvador. Tutela Legal works to
seek justice for Salvadorian victims of violence. Maria Julia Hernandez Maria
Julia Hernandez received the 1991 Pacem in Terris Award for Peace and Freedom
and was nominated for the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize as part of the 1000 Women for
the Nobel Peace Prize project.
