Born in Pamplona, Spain in 1934, Marysa Navarro, the youngest of three children, was marked by the Spanish Civil War and life in exile. Her father, Vicente Navarro, schoolteacher and inspector, and staunch Republican, was appointed to the board of directors of the General Workers Union (UGT) in Bilbao, in 1936. Marysa, her two siblings, and mother were imprisoned in Pamplona until they were reunited with their father in Bilbao through a prisoner swap. Following the bombing of Guernica, Marysa’s older sister, Dorita, who was eight-years old at the time, was evacuated on the SS Habana (1937) with other refugee children to the former Soviet Union, where Dorita lived for ten years. Marysa’s father was briefly placed in two internment camps, which led the family to relocate several times in France from the outskirts of Lyon to Bayonne, Boucau, and Biarritz. Throughout these years, Marysa’s mother, Luisa Aranguren, helped sustain the family as a seamstress. Convinced the republicans would triumph and the family would return to Spain, Vicente Navarro tutored his daughter in Spanish in all subjects. Marysa spent several summers crossing the Pyrenees by herself on a bus to take her equivalency exams and visit family. When Dora was reunited with her family through the help of Red Cross, the family emigrated to Uruguay in 1948, where her mother’s two sisters were living. Alberto, Marysa’s brother, who had Down Syndrome, had died a few years prior; Vicente Navarro never returned to Spain.
In Montevideo, Marysa completed high school and began studying history. A scholarship from Douglass College took her to the United States, where she married and obtained her PhD from Columbia University in 1964. Divorced, and a single parent, she taught at several institutions such as Rutgers University, Yeshiva University, Kean College and Long Island University before being hired by Dartmouth College. It was from the security of Hanover NH and the support of Dartmouth College that her career would take off.
At Dartmouth, Marysa was the Charles A. and Elfriede A. Collis Professor Emerita, where she taught Latin American History for 42 years. A feminist and activist, she was a leading force championing co-education at Dartmouth. She advocated for the recruitment of more women faculty and staff, demanded equal pay, and helped establish a day care on campus. She founded and chaired the Women's Studies Program—the first in the Ivy League; and the Latin American, Latino, and Caribbean Studies Program; and advocated for a Native American and Indigenous Studies program. She was the first woman to go through the complete tenure process at Dartmouth College, as she put it, “like a man”; and the first woman to serve as Associate Dean at Dartmouth for the Social Sciences (1985). Intimidating, influential, and a demanding teacher, she inspired many students who continued to work on Latin America and Women’s Studies.
As a scholar she dedicated most of her life to disseminating Latin American history and feminism in the US and Europe and introducing US feminist debates to a broad audience in Latin America. Her biography of Eva Perón, in Spanish, is widely praised for its rigorous and carefully documented research and remains obligatory reading on this charismatic political figure. Always one to take down walls and challenge limitations, she co-directed noteworthy volumes such as Women in Latin America and the Caribbean with Virginia Sánchez-Korrol, and with Catherine Stimpson, four volumes of Un nuevo saber: Los estudios de mujeres. These works were a multi-disciplinary and cross-cultural introduction to feminist debates and the role of women in history across the Americas. Her research was supported by the Social Science Research Council, The Rockefeller Foundation, the American Philosophical Society, the Organization of American States, Dartmouth College and Harvard University.
In addition to her extensive list of publications, she was on the editorial board of numerous journals, among them, the prestigious feminist journal Signs, Revista Feminista (Brazil), Debate Feminista (Mexico), Politica y Cultura (Mexico). She served as president of the New England Council for Latin American Studies (NECLAS), the Latin American Studies Association (LASA) and was appointed to the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). She was on numerous philanthropic and feminist boards such as the Helen Kellogg Institute for International Studies, the Global Fund for Women; the Ms. Foundation for Women, Ms. Magazine, Catholics for Choice; International Planned Parenthood; Advisory Council of the International Women's Rights Project of Human Rights.
Since her retirement in 2010, she was a permanent resident scholar at the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University. Among her numerous awards, she was named distinguished visitor of Buenos Aires, Argentina (2007), illustrious visitor of Montevideo, Uruguay (2019) and received a Doctor Honoris Causa from the Public University of Navarra, Spain (UPNA, 2017), which was a momentous homecoming for her, after living outside of Spain for most of her life.
In addition to her long and productive career, Marysa was a fantastic cook and loved entertaining friends. Her home, whether in Hanover NH or Cambridge MA was always open to visitors, from the neighborhood children to renowned international scholars. A proud Basque strongly opinionated and out-spoken, Marysa enjoyed life to the fullest, and never did anything halfway. Her laughter could be heard from a distance. She is remembered dearly by her colleagues and friends across the Americas, especially in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Uruguay, and the United States. And while she was proud of her accomplishments, she was especially proud of her two grandchildren, Nico and Natalia, who extended her joy of life enormously.
She is survived by her loving daughter Nina Gerassi-Navarro, her son-in-law, Ernesto Livon-Grosman and her two grandchildren Nicolás and Natalia Livon-Navarro, all from Cambridge MA.
A memorial service will be held at a later date.
Arrangements have been entrusted to the Burke-Magliozzi Funeral Home of Andover. For additional information, please visit, www.burkemagliozzi.com