Osvaldo Bayer
Encyclopedia
Osvaldo Bayer is a journalist
and scriptwriter. He lives in Buenos Aires
, and in Linz Am Rhine, Germany, where he went into exile during the "National Reorganization Process
" dictatorship (1976–1983).
", Osvaldo Bayer was raised in Bernal
, in the Province of Buenos Aires, and then in Belgrano
, Buenos Aires
. His parents, however, were living in Rio Gallegos during the strike in the 1920s which led to the Patagonia rebelde
movement.
After having worked for an insurance firm and on the merchant marine as an apprentice helmsman
, he studied
history in the University of Hamburg
, Germany, from 1952 to 1956, and became there a member of the Socialist Students’ League.
Returning to Argentina afterwards, he dedicated himself to journalism, investigation, and history of Argentina
, as well as writing film scenarios. He also studied medicine a year, then philosophy at Buenos Aires. According to him,
Disgusted by local Socialist policies, he turned towards the Federación Libertaria Argentina
(FLA), having already been acquainted to anarchist literature during his time in the German Socialist Students' League.
Furthermore, he founded the Department of Human Rights in the School of Philosophy and Humanities of the University of Buenos Aires
.
He worked in the newspapers Noticias Gráficas, Esquel
(a Patagonese
local newspaper). In 1958 he founded La Chispa ("The Spark"), "the first independent newspaper of Patagonia".
A year later, he was accused by Pedro Aramburu's military regime of diffusing strategic information, and forced by the National Gendarmerie
to quit Esquel
. Thereafter, Bayer was from 1959 to 1962 general secretary of the Press Syndicate
. Immediately after being expelled from Esquel, he was hired by the national daily Diario Clarín, where he became Chief of Politics' section. He had, under his direction, the journalist Félix Luna
, who founded in 1963 the history magazine Todo es Historia, to which Bayer collaborated.
In 1963, he was arrested for 63 days by General Juan Enrique Rauch, then Minister of Interior under José María Guido
's government, appointed by the military and little-son of Colonel Federico Rauch, for having unsuccessfully proposed during a debate in the library of Rauch
(Buenos Aires Province
) a plebiscite in order to rename the town to Arbolito, the nickname of the Ranquel
(a tribe close to the Mapuche
) who had allegedly killed the German militar in battle in 1829. Rauch was qualified by Bayer as guilty of genocide
.
During María Estela Martínez de Perón's regime, Bayer was threatened several times, due to the content of his work, and mainly of his book La Patagonia rebelde
, on the crushing of a rural workers uprising in Patagonia
during the early 1920s, under Hipólito Yrigoyen
's rule. He was therefore forced to exile himself to Berlin in 1975, while the "Dirty War
" was beginning, and only returned after Raúl Alfonsín
's 1983 election and the transition to democracy.
Bayer's first book, on the Italian anarchist Severino Di Giovanni
, a best-seller, was proscribed by President Raúl Alberto Lastiri
(1973); La Patagonia Rebelde, his second work, by Isabel Perón, and other were burnt by the military after they took power in 1976. Francesco Rosi
, who directed the Christ Stopped at Eboli
, was supposed to make a film adaptation of his book on Di Giovanni, but renounced after the 1969 Piazza Fontana bombing
, saying it was not the time to make a film on a terrorist.
, literature and journalism. On this day, he alluded to his forced exile, stating that:
Bayer is today involved in the struggle for Indigenous rights. Fifteen days after having been declared "Illustrious Citizen of Buenos Aires
" by the mayor Aníbal Ibarra
, he was declared persona non grata
by the Senate (an initiative of Eduardo Menem
) for having proposed the unification of the Argentinian and Chilean Patagonia, as the "first step for a common Latin-American market".
As of 2008, he collaborates with the newspaper Página 12, founded by his friend Osvaldo Soriano
(1943–1997). He is the author of the scenario of the film La Patagonia Rebelde, adapted from his book and realized by Héctor Olivera
, which won the Silver Bear Award in the 1974 Berlin International Film Festival
. He also wrote the scenario of the 1988 film La Amiga
, a drama on the dictatorship.
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and scriptwriter. He lives in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, and in Linz Am Rhine, Germany, where he went into exile during the "National Reorganization Process
National Reorganization Process
The National Reorganization Process was the name used by its leaders for the military government that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983. In Argentina it is often known simply as la última junta militar or la última dictadura , because several of them existed throughout its history.The Argentine...
" dictatorship (1976–1983).
Biography
Self-designed as an "ultra-pacifist anarchistAnarcho-pacifism
Anarcho-pacifism is a tendency within the anarchist movement which rejects the use of violence in the struggle for social change. The main early influences were the thought of Henry David Thoreau and Leo Tolstoy while later the ideas of Mohandas Gandhi gained importance...
", Osvaldo Bayer was raised in Bernal
Bernal
Bernal is a Spanish form of Bernard, and may refer to:-People:* Bernal de Foix, 1st Count of Medinaceli, Spanish military officer* Bernal Díaz del Castillo Bernal is a Spanish form of Bernard, and may refer to:-People:* Bernal de Foix, 1st Count of Medinaceli, Spanish military officer* Bernal Díaz...
, in the Province of Buenos Aires, and then in Belgrano
Belgrano
- People :* José Denis Belgrano , Spanish painter* Manuel Belgrano, Argentine politician and military leader* Mario Belgrano, Argentine historian- In Argentina :* General Belgrano, Buenos Aires, a city in the Buenos Aires Province...
, Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
. His parents, however, were living in Rio Gallegos during the strike in the 1920s which led to the Patagonia rebelde
Patagonia rebelde
Patagonia rebelde was a violent suppression of a rural worker's strike in the Argentine province of Santa Cruz in Argentine Patagonia between 1921 and 1922. The uprising was put down by Colonel Héctor Benigno Varela's 10th Cavalry Regiment of the Argentine Army under the orders of Hipólito Yrigoyen...
movement.
After having worked for an insurance firm and on the merchant marine as an apprentice helmsman
Helmsman
A helmsman is a person who steers a ship, sailboat, submarine, or other type of maritime vessel. On small vessels, particularly privately-owned noncommercial vessels, the functions of skipper and helmsman may be combined in one person. On larger vessels, there is a separate officer of the watch,...
, he studied
history in the University of Hamburg
University of Hamburg
The University of Hamburg is a university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by Wilhelm Stern and others. It grew out of the previous Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen and the Kolonialinstitut as well as the Akademisches Gymnasium. There are around 38,000 students as of the start of...
, Germany, from 1952 to 1956, and became there a member of the Socialist Students’ League.
Returning to Argentina afterwards, he dedicated himself to journalism, investigation, and history of Argentina
History of Argentina
The history of Argentina is divided by historians into four main parts: the pre-Columbian time, or early history , the colonial period , the independence wars and the early post-colonial period of the nation and the history of modern Argentina .The beginning of prehistory in the present territory of...
, as well as writing film scenarios. He also studied medicine a year, then philosophy at Buenos Aires. According to him,
Disgusted by local Socialist policies, he turned towards the Federación Libertaria Argentina
Federación Libertaria Argentina
The Argentine Libertarian Federation is a libertarian communist federation which operates in Argentina, out of the City of Buenos Aires, San Pedro, La Pampa Province, and Rosario...
(FLA), having already been acquainted to anarchist literature during his time in the German Socialist Students' League.
Furthermore, he founded the Department of Human Rights in the School of Philosophy and Humanities of the University of Buenos Aires
University of Buenos Aires
The University of Buenos Aires is the largest university in Argentina and the largest university by enrollment in Latin America. Founded on August 12, 1821 in the city of Buenos Aires, it consists of 13 faculties, 6 hospitals, 10 museums and is linked to 4 high schools: Colegio Nacional de Buenos...
.
He worked in the newspapers Noticias Gráficas, Esquel
Esquel
According to the , the Esquel district had about 28,000 inhabitants, with one of the highest rates of growth in the province, mainly as result of the immigration of people from Buenos Aires, but also from other provinces. It has wide cement streets with sidewalks, and is clean and well maintained...
(a Patagonese
Patagonia
Patagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...
local newspaper). In 1958 he founded La Chispa ("The Spark"), "the first independent newspaper of Patagonia".
A year later, he was accused by Pedro Aramburu's military regime of diffusing strategic information, and forced by the National Gendarmerie
Argentine National Gendarmerie
The Argentine National Gendarmerie is the gendarmerie and corps of border guards of Argentina.The Argentine National Gendarmerie has a strength of 12,000....
to quit Esquel
Esquel
According to the , the Esquel district had about 28,000 inhabitants, with one of the highest rates of growth in the province, mainly as result of the immigration of people from Buenos Aires, but also from other provinces. It has wide cement streets with sidewalks, and is clean and well maintained...
. Thereafter, Bayer was from 1959 to 1962 general secretary of the Press Syndicate
Trade unions in Argentina
Trade unions in Argentina have traditionally played a strong role in the politics of the nation. The largest trade union association, the Confederación General del Trabajo has been a force since the 1930s, and approximately 40% of workers in the formal economy are unionized.- The FORA :The...
. Immediately after being expelled from Esquel, he was hired by the national daily Diario Clarín, where he became Chief of Politics' section. He had, under his direction, the journalist Félix Luna
Félix Luna
Félix Luna was a prominent Argentine writer, lyricist and historian.-Life and times:Luna was born in Buenos Aires to a family originally from La Rioja Province, in 1925...
, who founded in 1963 the history magazine Todo es Historia, to which Bayer collaborated.
In 1963, he was arrested for 63 days by General Juan Enrique Rauch, then Minister of Interior under José María Guido
José María Guido
José María Guido was an interim President of Argentina from 30 March 1962 to 12 October 1963.Guido was elected to the Argentine Senate for Río Negro Province in 1958, representing the Intransigent Radical Civic Union...
's government, appointed by the military and little-son of Colonel Federico Rauch, for having unsuccessfully proposed during a debate in the library of Rauch
Rauch Partido
Rauch Partido is a partido located in the centre-east of Buenos Aires Province in Argentina.The provincial subdivision has a population of about 14,000 inhabitants in an area of 4,300km², and its capital city is Rauch.-Settlements:...
(Buenos Aires Province
Buenos Aires Province
The Province of Buenos Aires is the largest and most populous province of Argentina. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the provincial capital until it was federalized in 1880...
) a plebiscite in order to rename the town to Arbolito, the nickname of the Ranquel
Ranquel
The Ranquel are an indigenous tribe from the northern part of La Pampa Province, Argentina, in South America. They are part of the Mapuche, with Puelche origins, Pehuenche and also Patagones from the Günün-a-Küna group.-Name:...
(a tribe close to the Mapuche
Mapuche
The Mapuche are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina. They constitute a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who shared a common social, religious and economic structure, as well as a common linguistic heritage. Their influence extended...
) who had allegedly killed the German militar in battle in 1829. Rauch was qualified by Bayer as guilty of genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
.
During María Estela Martínez de Perón's regime, Bayer was threatened several times, due to the content of his work, and mainly of his book La Patagonia rebelde
La Patagonia rebelde
Rebellion in Patagonia is a 1974 Argentine film directed by Héctor Olivera and written by Olivera with Osvaldo Bayer and Fernando Ayala, based on Osvaldo Bayer's renowned novel Los Vengadores de la Patagonia Trágica , based upon the military suppression of anarchist union movements in Santa Cruz...
, on the crushing of a rural workers uprising in Patagonia
Patagonia
Patagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...
during the early 1920s, under Hipólito Yrigoyen
Hipólito Yrigoyen
Juan Hipólito del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús Irigoyen Alem was twice President of Argentina . His activism became the prime impetus behind the obtainment of universal suffrage in Argentina in 1912...
's rule. He was therefore forced to exile himself to Berlin in 1975, while the "Dirty War
Dirty War
The Dirty War was a period of state-sponsored violence in Argentina from 1976 until 1983. Victims of the violence included several thousand left-wing activists, including trade unionists, students, journalists, Marxists, Peronist guerrillas and alleged sympathizers, either proved or suspected...
" was beginning, and only returned after Raúl Alfonsín
Raúl Alfonsín
Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín was an Argentine lawyer, politician and statesman, who served as the President of Argentina from December 10, 1983, to July 8, 1989. Alfonsín was the first democratically-elected president of Argentina following the military government known as the National Reorganization...
's 1983 election and the transition to democracy.
Bayer's first book, on the Italian anarchist Severino Di Giovanni
Severino Di Giovanni
Severino Di Giovanni , was an Italian anarchist who immigrated to Argentina, where he became the best-known anarchist figure in that country for his campaign of violence in support of Sacco and Vanzetti and antifascism.- Italy :Di Giovanni was born on March 17, 1901, in the town of Chieti, in the...
, a best-seller, was proscribed by President Raúl Alberto Lastiri
Raúl Alberto Lastiri
Raúl Alberto Lastiri was an Argentine politician who was interim president of Argentina from July 13, 1973 until October 12, 1973. Lastiri, who presided over the Argentine Chamber of Deputies, was promoted to the presidency of the country after Héctor Cámpora and Vicente Solano Lima resigned...
(1973); La Patagonia Rebelde, his second work, by Isabel Perón, and other were burnt by the military after they took power in 1976. Francesco Rosi
Francesco Rosi
Francesco Rosi is an Italian film director. He is the father of actress Carolina Rosi.-Biography:After studying Law, but hoping to study film, Rosi entered the industry as an assistant to Luchino Visconti on La Terra trema...
, who directed the Christ Stopped at Eboli
Christ Stopped at Eboli (film)
Christ Stopped at Eboli is a 1979 film adaptation of the book of the same name by Carlo Levi. It was directed by Francesco Rosi and stars Gian Maria Volonté as Carlo Levi, with Paolo Bonacelli, Alain Cuny, Léa Massari, and Irene Papas....
, was supposed to make a film adaptation of his book on Di Giovanni, but renounced after the 1969 Piazza Fontana bombing
Piazza Fontana bombing
The Piazza Fontana Bombing was a terrorist attack that occurred on December 12, 1969 at 16:37, when a bomb exploded at the headquarters of Banca Nazionale dell'Agricoltura in Piazza Fontana in Milan, Italy, killing 17 people and wounding 88...
, saying it was not the time to make a film on a terrorist.
Transition to democracy
He was nominated Doctor Honoris Causa on 20 April 2003 by the Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires for his work in the fields of human rightsHuman rights in Argentina
The Dirty War, a state-sponsored violence against Argentine citizenry from roughly 1976 to 1983, was carried out primarily by Jorge Rafael Videla's military government, ended years ago, and the human rights situation in Argentina has improved since.-History:...
, literature and journalism. On this day, he alluded to his forced exile, stating that:
Bayer is today involved in the struggle for Indigenous rights. Fifteen days after having been declared "Illustrious Citizen of Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
" by the mayor Aníbal Ibarra
Aníbal Ibarra
Aníbal Ibarra is an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as mayor of Buenos Aires from 2000 to 2006.-Biography:Ibarra was born in Lomas de Zamora, a district located in the southern region of Greater Buenos Aires. His father was a Paraguayan member of the PLRA who left his country during the...
, he was declared persona non grata
Persona non grata
Persona non grata , literally meaning "an unwelcome person", is a legal term used in diplomacy that indicates a proscription against a person entering the country...
by the Senate (an initiative of Eduardo Menem
Eduardo Menem
Eduardo Menem is an Argentine Justicialist Party politician. He is a former Senator and the brother of former President Carlos Menem....
) for having proposed the unification of the Argentinian and Chilean Patagonia, as the "first step for a common Latin-American market".
As of 2008, he collaborates with the newspaper Página 12, founded by his friend Osvaldo Soriano
Osvaldo Soriano
Osvaldo Soriano, Journalist and writer. Born January 6, 1943 in Mar del Plata, Argentina – died on January 29, 1997 in Buenos Aires.-Biography:...
(1943–1997). He is the author of the scenario of the film La Patagonia Rebelde, adapted from his book and realized by Héctor Olivera
Héctor Olivera
Héctor Olivera is a film director, producer and screenwriter.He works mainly in the cinema of Argentina, but has contributed to numerous films in the United States.-Biography:...
, which won the Silver Bear Award in the 1974 Berlin International Film Festival
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...
. He also wrote the scenario of the 1988 film La Amiga
La Amiga
The Girlfriend is a 1988 Argentine drama film directed by Jeanine Meerapfel. The film was written by Osvaldo Bayer and Alcides Chiesa and was produced jointly with Germany...
, a drama on the dictatorship.
Filmography
- Los cuentos del timonel by Eduardo Montes-BradleyEduardo Montes-Bradley- Filmography :# Waissman Producer, Director. The Heritage Film Project. 2010. Produced by Soledad Liendo. Biographical documentary on the life and works of Argentine artist Andrés Waissman. TV premier November 23, 2010 WPBT Channel 2...
. The film features Osvaldo Bayer in Germany. Argentina, 2001.
External links
- Documentos de Osvaldo Bayer
- Osvaldo Bayer page Anarchist Encyclopedia (English)
- Osvaldo Bayer, la Patagonia rebelde. La escritura de la memoria.
- Artículo de Bayer en Página12 referido a un caso de la problemática de los Pueblos Originarios