Victoria Analía Donda Pérez (born 1977) is an Argentine human rights activist, lawyer, and politician. She is the first daughter of a "disappeared" person, born in captivity, to become a member of the Argentine National Congress, and was the youngest woman to hold that office. From 2019 to 2022, she served as the head of the National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism (INADI).
Early Life and Identity
Donda was born in 1977 in a clandestine detention center in Buenos Aires, during Argentina's military dictatorship (1976–1983). Her mother, María Hilda Pérez, and father, José María Laureano Donda, were both "disappeared" for their involvement with leftist groups. Both remain disappeared and are presumed killed. She is one of approximately 500 children known to have been born to disappeared political prisoners during the Dirty War, who were kidnapped and registered under false identities.
As a baby, Donda was handed over to another family, who raised her without disclosing her biological origins. Her paternal uncle, Adolfo Miguel Donda Tigel, was a naval officer who participated in the imprisonment, torture, and killing of her parents at the ESMA (Navy Mechanics School) detention center.
Recovery of Identity
In 2003, at age 26, Donda discovered her true identity after contacting the group H.I.J.O.S. (Sons and Daughters for Identity and Justice Against Oblivion and Silence) and the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo. In May 2004, after speaking at the ceremony converting ESMA into a memorial center, she underwent DNA testing that confirmed her identity. She was the 78th "recovered granddaughter" found by the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo.
Political Career
Before learning her true identity, Donda was already active in human rights and poverty issues, working at a soup kitchen named after Azucena Villaflor, a disappeared human rights activist and first president of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo. She was a member of the Freemen of the South Movement (Movimiento Libres del Sur).
- 2006: Elected as a councilmember in Avellaneda, Buenos Aires Province.
- 2007: Elected to Argentina's Chamber of Deputies on the Front for Victory list, representing Buenos Aires Province. She was re-elected in 2011 and 2015, the latter time representing the Federal Capital (City of Buenos Aires).
- 2019–2022: Appointed by President Alberto Fernández to head the National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism (INADI). She resigned in December 2022.
Political Affiliations
Donda has been affiliated with several political coalitions over her career, including the Front for Victory (2005–2008), the Broad Progressive Front (2011–2013), Progresistas (2015–2017), and Frente de Todos (since 2019). She was a member of the Freemen of the South party (2005–2018) and later co-founded the Somos party (since 2018).
Personal
Donda earned a law degree and authored the book Mi nombre es Victoria (2009), which recounts her life story. A documentary film titled Familia de sangre, directed by Gustavo Bobbio and Daniel Ortiz, tells her story.
