“Someone uploaded it to Instagram and I thought it was very good. RIP,” the journalist highlighted, with some humor. Giuliana Maglietti on her
In the printed edition of La Nación, the funeral notice, almost in meme mode, described: “Lorido de Jofré, Marta. Martita, congratulations. You finally reached your favorite section of the diary. Your children and grandchildren will miss you. Thank you for so much love, humor and life.” Of course, the occurrence of the message went viral on all social networks.
Obituaries, also known as obituaries, constitute one of the oldest and most traditional sections of written journalism. Its origin in international newspapers dates back to the 18th century, when British newspapers began to record the deaths of prominent figures as part of their social and political coverage.
The Times of London, founded in 1785, was one of the pioneers in establishing a permanent obituary section at the beginning of the 19th century, with extensive texts that combined biographical information, public assessment and, often, moral or political judgments about the life of the deceased.
The New York Times institutionalized the genre starting in 1851, the year it was founded, but it acquired special relevance in the mid-20th century, when editors began to consider the obituary as a form of literary journalism. The section “Obituaries” It became a space for recognition and, in some cases, involuntary humor when the editors began to include anecdotes, famous phrases or curious episodes from the lives portrayed.
In Argentina, obituaries have been published since the end of the 19th century, mainly in La Nación and La Prensa, newspapers that adopted European editorial customs. In those years, obituaries were solemn, written in formal language. As time went by, especially from the 1960s onwards, shorter and more popular versions began to appear, often written by relatives or friends of the deceased, who used the space as a funeral notice.
Today, obituaries in the Argentine media combine the two traditions: journalistic texts about public figures and brief paid mentions in the advertisement sections. Among other media, both Clarín and La Nación still maintain this dual modality, and in the case of the latter, it even has a historical archive that preserves obituaries published since 1870.
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