Timerman, Jacobo (1923–1999)

Jacobo Timerman (b. 6 January 1923; d. 11 November 1999), Argentine journalist, publisher, editor, and writer. Jacobo Timerman was born in Bar, Ukraine (then, the USSR). When he was five years old, his family immigrated to Argentina. His father died when he was only twelve years old, leaving Jacobo and his younger brother with only their mother for support. The family lived in a one-room apartment in the Jewish quarter of Buenos Aires. Timerman soon became involved with local Jewish cultural and political organizations, joining a group called Avuca at fourteen years old. After first studying engineering in school, he began his career in journalism. The post-World War II period was a turbulent time for Argentinean politics with the rise of populist ruler Juan Perón and the resulting turmoil after his overthrow in 1955. It was during this time that Timerman's journalism career took off. He was especially well-known for his reporting in La Razón.

Along with friends, Timerman founded the newsweeklies Primera Plana (1962) and Confirmado (1969) and became a radio and television commentator. He was a political columnist at the Argentine daily La Razón, one of the most widely read papers in the nation during the late 1950s and the 1960s. From 1971 to 1977 he was editor and publisher of the influential Argentine daily La Opinión, which he helped to found. He fell out of favor with the government and much of the public due to his newspapers' outspoken stance against human rights abuses and his publishing of the names of individuals who had been "disappeared." In 1977 a mob of armed civilians stormed his home and arrested him. This began two years of torture and imprisonment at the hands of the military.

International pressures, as well as internal dissension among the military, gained his freedom. He left Argentina for Israel in 1979, and subsequently lived in Madrid and New York. The story of his imprisonment and torture by the military, Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a Number (1981), is a forceful account of repression and the violation of human rights in Argentina. The book became an international best-seller. In The Longest War: Israel in Lebanon (1982), Timerman expresses his anguish over actions taken by the Israeli armed forces in Lebanon. Upon his return to Argentina in 1984, Timerman became editor-in-chief of La Razón for a brief period. His book Cuba: A Journey (1990) is based upon a trip that he made to the island in 1987. He has written for the New Yorker magazine and in 1987 he published an account of Chile under General Pinochet, Chile: Death in the South. He died on November 11, 1999 in Buenos Aires.

See alsoHuman Rights; Journalism.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ramón Juan Alberto Camps, Caso Timerman: Punto final (1982); Timerman: The News from Argentina (1984), a video recording available from PBS Video; Jacobo Timerman: Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a Number (television film, 1990).

Additional Bibliography

Knudson, Jerry W. "Veil of Silence: The Argentine Press and the Dirty War, 1976–1983." Latin American Perspectives 24 (November 1997): 93-112.

Mochkofsky, Graciela. Timerman: El periodista que quiso ser parte del poder (1923–1999). 2nd ed. Buenos Aires: Editorial Sudamericana, 2003.

Ruíz, Fernando J. Las palabras son acciones: História política y profesional de La Opinión de Jacobo Timerman (1971–1977). Buenos Aires: Perfil Libros, 2001.

                                        Danusia L. Meson