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The assassination of the Mirabal sisters

Women activists in the Caribbean, the last case of Smallpox in Europe, voluntary euthanasia in the Netherlands, the stolen art of Klimt plus Estonia's internet revolution.

The three Mirabal sisters were leading figures in the Dominican Republic's opposition movement against the dictator General Rafael Trujillo. They were all killed on the 25th November 1960. We hear from the daughter of one of them, Minerva, who tells us about her family and from Professor Elizabeth Manley on the Mirabal sister's legacy in the Dominican Republic. Also in the programme, the last case of Smallpox in Europe, the woman who helped her mother to die and laid the groundwork for the Netherlands becoming the first country in the world to legalise euthanasia. Also how Estonia led the way on connecting up schools to the internet and the painting by Gustav Klimt which was stolen by Nazis and only returned to its Jewish owners after a lengthy legal battle.

Photo: The three Mirabal Sisters, Patria, Minerva and Maria Teresa (Credit: Mirabal family collection)

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50 minutes

Last on

Tue 30 Nov 2021 00:06GMT

Broadcasts

  • Sat 27 Nov 2021 14:06GMT
  • Tue 30 Nov 2021 00:06GMT

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