Justo Sierra

Justo Sierra Méndez
Justo Sierra Méndez
Secretary of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
	In office; April 25, 1905 – March 24, 1911
President	Porfirio Díaz
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court
	In office; 1894–1901
Personal details
Born	January 26, 1848; Campeche, Yucatán
Died	September 13, 1912 (aged 64); Madrid, Spain
Resting place	Panteón de Dolores
Nationality	Mexican

Justo Sierra Méndez (January 26, 1848 – September 13, 1912), was a prominent liberal Mexican writer, historian, journalist,[1] poet and political figure during the Porfiriato, in the second half of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century. He was a leading voice of the Científicos, "the scientists" who were the intellectual leaders during the regime of Porfirio Díaz.

Life and career

Sierra married Luz Mayora in 1874.

He was the son of Mexican novelist Justo Sierra O'Reilly, who is credited with inspiring his son with the spirit of literature. Sierra moved to Mexico City at the age of 13 in 1861, the year of his father's death, and also, coincidentally, the year of the French intervention in Mexico. Together with his fellow young students, Sierra responded with patriotic fervor to the invasion of his country, and became a lifelong militant liberal.

His most enduring works are sociopolitical histories (at times verging on memoirs) of the era of Benito Juárez and Porfirio Díaz, particularly his political biography of Juárez and his Evolución política del pueblo mexicano. Antonio Caso is considered the definitive statement of the age of the Reform in Mexico. Sierra was elected a member of the Mexican Academy of Language in 1887, and served as the Academy's sixth director from 1910 until his death in 1912.

Public service

Elected to several terms as a representative in the federal Chamber of Deputies, Sierra also served the government in various posts. From 1905 to 1911, he agreed to serve as the Secretary of Public Education under the Díaz regime. However, he never made a secret of his liberal sympathies and his distaste for the politics of the authoritarian regime. After the overthrow of Díaz in May 1911 and the election of Francisco I. Madero at the outset of the Mexican Revolution, Madero chose Sierra to serve as the Mexican ambassador to Spain. Sierra died from an aneurysm in Madrid in 1912 while serving in his post.[2] His remains were returned to Mexico, where president Madero presided over his magnificent funeral.

Historian

Justo Sierra made significant contributions to the writing of Mexican history. His texts on pre-revolutionary Mexico continued to be used in Mexican public schools even after the Mexican Revolution. President Álvaro Obregón's Minister of Public Education, José Vasconcelos republished Sierra's Historia Patria for use in schools.[3]

Selected works

Birthplace in San Francisco de Campeche

Monument erected in memory of Justo Sierra in Campeche

Compendio de historia general, México, 1878
Compendio de la historia de la antigüedad, México, 1880
Confesiones de un pianista, México, 1882
Historia general, México, 1891
Cuentos románticos, México, 1896, 1934, 1946
Juárez. Su obra y su tiempo, México, 1905–1906
Historia de México. La Conquista. La Nueva España, Madrid, 1917
Prosas, México, 1917
Poemas, México, 1917
Discursos, México, 1918
Poesías, 1842-1912, México, 1938
Evolución política del pueblo mexicano, México, 1941
Justo Sierra. Prosas, México, 1939
Obras completas, XV vols., México, 1948-1949.

References

Biblioteca Virtual Ignacio Larramendi Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine at www.digibis.com
"Justo Sierra is Dead". The New York Times. Madrid. September 14, 1912. p. 13. Retrieved June 22, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
Thomas Benjamin, La Revolución: Mexico's Great Revolution as Memory, Myth, and History. Austin: University of Texas Press 2000, p. 141.