Victor Jara

Victor Jara was born in the small town of Loquen, Chile, near Santiago, to poor farmers Manuel and Amanda Jara. The marriage was not a happy one, and Manuel left the family when Victor was still a child to look for work elsewhere. Amanda perservered in raising Victor and his siblings by herself, insisting that all of them should receive a good education.

Amanda died when Victor Jara was only 15, leaving him to make his own way thereafter. He began in the study of accounting, but soon moved into a seminiary instead, studying to become a priest. After a couple of years, however, he became disillusioned with the church and left the seminary. Subsequently he spent several years in the army before returning to his home town to pursue interests in folk music and theater.

Jara began singing in a Santiago cafe owned by Violeta Parra[?], and through her became involved in the Nueva cancion school of Latin American folk music. He published his first recording in 1966, and by 1970 had left his theater work in favor of a musical career. His songs were drawn from a combination of traditional folk music and left-wing political activism. He supported progressive Popular Unity candidate Salvador Allende for the presidency of Chile in 1973, taking part in a fund-raising concert in the Stadium of Chile.

Allende's campaign was successful, and he was elected President of Chile. However, the military, who opposed Allende's politics, promptly staged a coup in which Allende was killed. That same day, Jara was arrested by the military, and was kept in prison for five subsequent days under, reportedly, inhumane conditions.

On or about September 16, 1973, many prisoners were taken to the Stadium of Chile. According to reports from survivors, a number of them were tortured and killed there by the military. Victor Jara's hands were broken; afterward, he was given a guitar by his captors, who then suggested that he play for them. Defiantly, he sang part of a song supporting the Popular Unity party. Afterward, he was severely beaten before being machine-gunned and carried with other executed prisoners to a mass grave.

Jara's wife, Joan Jara, was allowed to come and retrieve his body from the site (and was able to confirm that his hands had been broken). After holding a funeral for her husband, Joan Jara fled Chile in secret. She carried with her recordings of Victor Jara's music, which were later copied and distributed worldwide. Joan Jara later wrote an account of Victor Jara's life and music, titled Victor: An Unfinished Song.

References:

• Victor: An Unfinished Song by Joan Jara (1998, Bloomsbury Press, London)