Eliana Krawczyk

Eliana María Krawczyk (5 March 1982 – 15 November 2017) was an officer of the Argentine Navy. She was among the 44 crew members of the Argentine submarine ARA San Juan when it sank on 15 November 2017.[1][2]

Eliana María Krawczyk
Born5 March 1982
Oberá, Argentina
Died15 November 2017(2017-11-15) (aged 35)
ARA San Juan, Argentine Sea
Allegiance Argentina
Service/branch Argentine Navy
Years of service2003–2017
RankCorvette captain
UnitARA San Juan

Early life and education

Eliana María Krawczyk was born on 5 March 1982 in Oberá, Misiones Province, Argentina, to two Jewish Polish immigrants.[3][4] She entered primary school at age five.[3]

Career

In 2003, while studying industrial engineering in her hometown, Krawczyk learned through an internet advertisement that the Argentine Navy was recruiting women.[5] She traveled to Posadas, Misiones to enlist that year[2] and was enrolled at the Naval Military School the next year. She graduated in 2008 and was assigned to the ARA Libertad for training. It was here that she became interested in submarines. Once her eight-month training period had elapsed, she signed up for submarine training in Mar del Plata.[5]

Krawczyk went to submarine school in 2012 and graduated at the top of her class.[2] She was assigned first to the ARA Salta, remaining there for four years. This posting made Krawczyk the first female submariner in Latin America. In 2016, she transferred to ARA San Juan.[5][6]

On 8 October 2015, the Argentine Navy promoted Krawczyk to the rank of Frigate lieutenant, making her the Navy's first female submarine officer. For this distinction, she was personally congratulated by Juan Carlos Agulla, Vice President of the Misiones Chamber of Representatives.[1]

She was promoted again, to Lieutenant, by decree of the Argentine government on 17 March 2017.[7]

Disappearance of ARA San Juan
Main article: Disappearance of ARA San Juan
Location of the wreck[8]

On 17 November 2017, ARA San Juan disappeared off the San Jorge Gulf while sailing to Mar del Plata after a military exercise.[9][10][11][12] Krawczyk was among the 44 crew members aboard ARA San Juan when it disappeared and,[13] when the submarine was not located within a week, she and the rest of the crew were presumed dead by the Argentine government.[4] The submarine's wreckage was found a year later 907 meters (2,976 ft) underwater, 250 nautical miles (460 km) from the San Jorge Gulf.[14] At the time of the submarine's loss, Krawczyk was its third highest-ranking officer and the only woman aboard.[4] Krawczyk's sister joined the search parties, but left 10 days before the discovery of the wreck.[6]

Legacy

To honor Krawczyk's memory, the city of Oberá announced 27 days after ARA San Juan's disappearance that it would name a street after her.[15] Argentina's Jewish community honored Krawczyk on International Women's Day, 9 March 2018, in a ceremony at the Alvear Hotel in Buenos Aires. 500 guests attended the event, including Rabbi Alejandro Avruj and politicians Carolina Stanley and Patricia Bullrich.[4]

Citations
  1. "La Legislatura homenajeó a la oficial submarinista misionera". Gaceta Marinera (in Spanish). Argentine Navy. 9 October 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  2. Guadalupe, Alan Soria (20 November 2017). "Reina de los Mares: Eliana, la primera mujer submarinista". La Nación (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  3. "Un recuerdo que dejó Eliana Krawczyk" (in Spanish). La Voz de Polonia. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  4. "Argentina Jews honor female submarine officer lost at sea". Times of Israel. 12 March 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  5. "Eliana Krawczyk: La historia de la única mujer a bordo del submarino ARA San Juan". Infobae (in Spanish). 17 November 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  6. "Eliana Krawczyk: el recuerdo de la única mujer a bordo del ARA San Juan". Infobae (in Spanish). 17 November 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  7. "Decreto 184, 2017" (PDF). Boletín Oficial de la República Argentina (in Spanish). Government of Argentina. 17 March 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  8. Costa, José María (18 November 2018). "ARA San Juan: el clima adverso le dio dramatismo a un hallazgo con el último aliento". La Nación. Archived from the original on 18 November 2018. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  9. "Argentine navy loses contact with submarine". BBC News. 17 November 2017. Archived from the original on 18 November 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  10. "Operaciones integradas del Comando de Adiestramiento y Alistamiento | Gaceta Marinera". gacetamarinera.com.ar (in European Spanish). 6 November 2017. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  11. "La Flota de Mar despliega su esplendor en Ushuaia". Zona Militar (in European Spanish). 7 November 2017. Archived from the original on 3 July 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  12. "Desapareció un submarino argentino y se desplegó un operativo de rescate" (in Spanish). La Nacion. 16 November 2017. Archived from the original on 18 November 2017. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  13. Politi, Daniel & Londoño, Ernesto (17 November 2017). "Search Underway for Argentine Navy Submarine With 44". New York Times. Archived from the original on 18 November 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  14. "El lugar exacto donde fue hallado el submarino ARA San Juan". Infobae (in Spanish). 17 November 2018. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  15. "Oberá: una calle llevaría el nombre de Eliana Krawczyk". Misiones Cuatro (in Spanish). 12 December 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
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