Knowra Mirabal sisters Mirabal sisters Patria, Minerva, and María Teresa Mirabal were Dominican sisters who opposed Rafael Trujillo’s dictatorship. Regime agents murdered them in 1960, and their deaths became a symbol of resistance to political violence.
Rafael Trujillo : Dominican military ruler who governed the country as a dictator from 1930 until his assassination in 1961. His regime persecuted the sisters and ordered the political repression surrounding their activism.
Assassination of the Mirabal sisters : The 1960 murder of Patria, Minerva, and María Teresa Mirabal by agents of Rafael Trujillo’s regime. The regime killed the sisters on November 25 while they were returning from visiting imprisoned relatives.
Assassination of Rafael Trujillo : The 1961 killing of Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo by a group of conspirators. The sisters’ murder intensified opposition to the regime that fell less than a year later.
Dominican Republic : A Caribbean nation occupying the eastern part of the island of Hispaniola. The sisters’ lives, activism, and commemoration are central to modern Dominican history.
Dominican Republic under Trujillo : The Dominican Republic during Rafael Trujillo’s authoritarian rule, marked by surveillance, censorship, and state violence. This was the political system the sisters challenged.
Salcedo massacre : The killing of civilians in Salcedo, Dominican Republic, during a military crackdown in 1960. The sisters’ murder took place amid violent repression in their home region.
International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women : A United Nations observance held each November 25 to call for ending violence against women and girls. The date honors the sisters’ murders and connects their memory to a global campaign.
Women in resistance movements : Women who organize, participate in, or support movements opposing political or social domination. The sisters’ public and clandestine work challenges accounts that cast women only as bystanders.
Fourteenth of June Movement : A Dominican underground organization founded in 1959 to overthrow Rafael Trujillo’s dictatorship. The sisters joined its resistance network and used its name as the basis for their clandestine identities.
Dedé Mirabal : Dominican activist and the surviving Mirabal sister, who preserved her sisters’ memory and shared their story. Her efforts kept the sisters’ history alive after their deaths.
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