A new book by a US anthropologist questions the autobiography of Rigoberta Menchu, whose account of a tortured life in Guatemala made her a spokeswoman for human rights and the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, the New York Times reported yesterday.
In his book, Rigoberta Menchu and the Story of All Poor Guatemalans, David Stoll maintains that key details of her autobiography, I, Rigoberta Menchu, are untrue.
Ms Menchu's book was first published in Spanish in 1983 at the height of Guatemala's brutal civil war.
After nearly a decade of interviews with more than 120 people and archival research, Stoll concludes that Ms Menchu's book "cannot be the eyewitness account it purports to be" because she describes "experiences she never had herself," the Times reports.
However, Mr Geir Lundestad, director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute and permanent secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, told the Times there is no thought of revoking Ms Menchu's award.
