Rigoberta Menchu Timeline

Rigoberta Menchú Tum was born on January 9, 1959. She is a K'iche' Guatemalan human rights activist, feminist, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

In 1979–80, Menchú's brother, Patrocinio, and mother, Juana Tum Kótoja, were kidnapped, brutally tortured, and murdered by the Guatemalan Army.

Menchú's father, Vicente Menchú Perez, died in the 1980 Burning of the Spanish Embassy in Guatemala City, which occurred after urban guerrillas took hostages and were attacked by government security forces.

Image source: Guatemalan Civil War

In 1984, Menchú's other brother, Victor, was shot to death after he surrendered to the Guatemalan Army, was threatened by soldiers, and tried to escape.

In 1995, Menchú married Ángel Canil, a Guatemalan, in a traditional Mayan ceremony.

Menchú and Ángel Canil had a Catholic wedding in January 1998; at that time they also buried their son Tz'unun ("hummingbird" in K'iche' Maya), who had died after being born prematurely in December.

In 2025, decades after finding refuge in Mexico during her exile, Rigoberta Menchú became a Mexican citizen.

After leaving school, Menchú worked as an activist campaigning against human rights violations committed by the Guatemalan Army during the country's civil war, which lasted from 1960 to 1996.

In 1981, Menchú was exiled and escaped to Mexico where she found refuge in the home of a Catholic bishop in Chiapas.

In 1982, Menchú narrated a book about her life to Venezuelan author and anthropologist Elizabeth Burgos. Published as I, Rigoberta Menchú (1983), the testimonial biography brought worldwide attention to the plight of Indigenous Guatemalans.

Image source: Rigoberta Menchú

Menchú featured prominently in the 1983 documentary When the Mountains Tremble, directed by Newton Thomas Sigel and Pamela Yates, bringing international attention to her story and the Guatemalan conflict.

In 1998, Menchú published Crossing Borders, an autobiographical work continuing the testimony begun in I, Rigoberta Menchú.

In 1999, Menchú filed a complaint before a court in Spain because prosecutions of civil-war era crimes in Guatemala were practically impossible.

On September 21, 2002, together with Rita Levi-Montalcini, Menchú took part in a meeting at Villa del Vascello, Rome, Italy, in the headquarters of the Masonic organization Grand Orient of Italy, to discuss science and peace in the service of mankind.

Image source: Grand Orient of Italy

Since 2003, Menchú has become involved in the Indigenous pharmaceutical industry as president of "Salud para Todos" ("Health for All") and the company "Farmacias Similares", with the goal of offering low-cost generic medicines.

In 2005, Menchú joined the Guatemalan federal government as goodwill ambassador for the National Peace Accords.

In April 2005, five Guatemalan politicians were convicted for hurling racial epithets at Menchú.

In 2006, Menchú was one of the founders of the Nobel Women's Initiative along with sister Nobel Peace Laureates Jody Williams, Shirin Ebadi, Wangari Maathai, Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan Maguire.

On December 23, 2006, Spain called for the extradition from Guatemala of seven former members of Guatemala's government, including Efraín Ríos Montt and Óscar Mejía, on charges of genocide and torture, following Menchú's earlier complaint.

Menchú has been a member of the Foundation Chirac's honor committee since the foundation was launched in 2008 by former French president Jacques Chirac in order to promote world peace.

Image source: Fondation Chirac

In 2015, Menchú met with the general director of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, in order to solidify relations between Guatemala and the organization.

Image source: UNESCO

Rigoberta Menchú received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 in recognition of her work for social justice and ethno-cultural reconciliation based on respect for the rights of Indigenous peoples.

In 1996, Menchú was appointed as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador in recognition of her activism for the rights of Indigenous people. She acted as spokesperson for the first International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples (1995–2004).

In 1998, Menchú received the Prince of Asturias Award for improving the condition of women and the communities they serve.

Image source: Princess of Asturias Awards

In 1999, asteroid 9481 Menchú was named in honor of Rigoberta Menchú.

In 2022, the University of Bordeaux Montaigne, located in Pessac, France, gave the name of Rigoberta Menchú to its newly built library in her honor.

Image source: Bordeaux Montaigne University

On February 12, 2007, Menchú announced that she would form an Indigenous political party called Encuentro por Guatemala and stand in the 2007 presidential election.

Image source: Encuentro por Guatemala

In the 2007 election, Menchú was defeated in the first round, receiving three percent of the vote.

Image source: 2007 Guatemalan general election

In 2009, Menchú became involved in the newly founded indigenous party Winaq, the country's first indigenous political party. She ran as its candidate in the 2011 presidential election but lost in the first round, winning three percent of the vote again.

Image source: Winaq