Martha Teresa Blache

Abstract

Martha Blache passed away in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on January 24th, 2016.Born on December 23rd, 1933, she obtained her degree in Folklore from BuenosAires University in 1962, and a Ph. D. in Folklore from Indiana University in 1977.Her research was focused on oral narratives, particularly on contemporary legends, considering the significance in the social context, from a performancecentered theoretical perspective, whose results have been published in local and international contexts. She wrote five books and seventy-five articles, published in scientific journals of Argentina, Latin and North America. Martha also organized both, the visits to Argentina of foreign folklorists, linguistsand social scientists as well as the visits of Argentinean scholars to the mostimportant centers of Folklore studies throughout the whole world. Thanks to thiseffort, Argentina was included in the academic world map of Folklore studies. It is worth mentioning that she started her academic career between two Argentineanmilitary periods (1966?1973, and 1976?1983), in which Folklore studies werefocused mainly on rural areas and peasant cultures. Thanks to her, performancecentered studies and contemporary legend won a place in the Argentinean academic context.Martha was not only an outstanding scholar but also a dear person. After herretirement, she gave away the books of her library, as a present to young scholars interested in Folklore, in a generous way of constructing her academic heritage. She remains in our memory both as a brilliant scholar, a generous teacher and a democratic Argentinean citizen.