Rigoberta Menchu Tum

Rigoberta Menchú
Rigoberta Menchu in 2009.
Born	Rigoberta Menchú Tum (1959-01-09) 9 January 1959 (age 58) Laj Chimel, Quiché, Guatemala
Nationality	Guatemalan
Occupation	Activist, politician
Parent(s)	Juana Tum Kótoja Vicente Menchú Pérez
Awards	Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 Prince of Asturias Awards in 1998 Order of the Aztec Eagle in 2010.
Website	Rigoberta Menchú Tum profile

Rigoberta Menchú Tum (Spanish: [riɣoˈβerta menˈtʃu]; born 9 January 1959) is a K'iche' political activist from Guatemala. Menchú has dedicated her life to publicizing the rights of Guatemala's indigenous feminists during and after the Guatemalan Civil War (1960–1996), and to promoting indigenous rights in the country.

She received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 and the Prince of Asturias Award in 1998. She is the subject of the testimonial biography I, Rigoberta Menchú (1983) and the author of the autobiographical work, Crossing Borders. Menchú is a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. She has also become a figure in indigenous political parties and ran for President of Guatemala in 2007 and 2011.

Rigoberta Menchú was born to a poor indigenous family of K'iche' descent near Laj Chimel, a small town in the north-central Guatemalan province of El Quiché. Menchú received a primary-school education as a student at several Catholic boarding schools. In 1981, Menchú was exiled and escaped to Mexico. She found refuge in the home of a Catholic bishop in Chiapas. In 1995, Menchú married Angel Canil, a Guatemalan. They have a son, Mash Nahual J’a ("Spirit of Water").

After leaving school, Menchú worked as an activist campaigning against human rights violations committed by the Guatemalan armed forces during the country's civil war, which lasted from 1960 to 1996. Her father, Vicente Menchú, was a member of the guerrilla movement Guerrilla Army of the Poor and died in 1980 during the Burning of the Spanish Embassy after being captured and tortured for his role in organizing against abusive landowners.