A Single Numberless Death is a testimonio written by Nora Strejilevich after her kidnap and torture in 1970s Argentina. The original Spanish version, Una Sola Muerte Numerosa, won the 1996 Letras de Oro Literary Prize and was published in 1997 by North South Center Press. The English translation was published in 1997 by University of Virginia Press and a re-edition of the book is forthcoming in Argentina (Strejilevich website).
Nora Strejilevich was born in Buenos Aires was born to first generation Argentine parents of Eastern-European Jewish descent. She received her masters in philosophy from la Unibversidad de Buenos Aires in 1974.
In 1976 she was disappeared after signing up to participate on a local Jewish Agency’s trip to Israel. After being subjected to extreme human torture, she was released and fled Argentina, going first to Israel, Spain and Italy, then to Canada, where she earned her PhD in Latin American literature. Today she is a professor at San Diego State University.
Strejilevich has worked extensively to preserve the memory of Los Desaparecidos and use that memory to pursue human rights and an end to genocide and human torture. In addition to A Single Numberless Death, she has written about her experiences as a survivor and the importance of testimonio both in academic and creative formats. She was interviewed for Nunca Mås, has worked on several films about human rights and continues to tour the world speaking about her work as an activist, academic and survivor.
This part of the site offers several examples of how the testimonio format of A Single Numberless Death reveals new perspectives and insights for the historian.
