Esther Ballestrino

Paraguayan biochemist and political activist

Esther Ballestrino (20 January 1918 – disappeared 17 or 18 December 1977) was a Paraguayan biochemist and political activist.She is most notable for her connection to the future Pope Francis and her forced disappearance (abduction and murder) in Argentina by the military dictatorship of the National Reorganization Process (1976–1983).

She had helped found Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, which organised protests by the mothers of missing children taken by the authorities.