Twenty years of the Family Biographical Archive of Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo

Abstract

In 1998, Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo created the Family Biographical Archive (Archivo Biográfico Familiar) aiming at reconstructing the life stories of those disappeared people whose children had been appropriated during the last military dictatorship in Argentina. Since then, the Archive has recorded and preserved the voices of those people who knew them, waiting for the moment the grandchild is found. It intends to be an instrument towards generational transmission, through which the grandchildren can learn the story of their parents, and so, their own. On the occasion of its 20th anniversary, this article intends to go through the history of the Archive, examining its research methodology, analyzing how its work has evolved throughout the years, the different projects it has developed and its future challenges.