All Topics  
José Vasconcelos

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

José Vasconcelos
 
 
  Topics José Vasconcelos Topic Home

José Vasconcelos Calderón (February 28 1882, Oaxaca, Oaxaca
Oaxaca, Oaxaca

The city of Oaxaca is the capital and largest city of the Mexico Oaxaca .It is located in the Valley of Oaxaca in the Sierra Madre del Sur Mountains, at near the geographic center of the state, and at an altitude of about 1550 m ....
 – June 30 1959, Mexico City
Mexico City

Mexico City is the capital city of Mexico. It is the most important economic, industrial, and cultural center in the country; the most populous city with over 8,836,045 inhabitants in 2008....
) was a Mexican
Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
 writer, philosopher and politician of Spanish
Spanish people

Spanish people or Spaniards are a nation or ethnic group native to Spain, in the Iberian Peninsula of southwestern Europe. They are often considered an amalgam of different ethnic groups, rather than an ethnic group by itself....
, Italian
Italian people

The Italian people are a Southern European ethnic group located primarily in Italy and, by virtue of a wide-ranging Italian diaspora, throughout Western Europe, the Americas and Australia....
, and Portuguese
Portuguese people

The Portuguese people are the ethnic group or nation native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of Southern Europe-Western Europe Europe....
 ancestry. He married Serafina Miranda of Tlaxiaco
Tlaxiaco

Tlaxiaco is a city, and its surrounding Municipalities of Oaxaca of the same name, in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is located in the northwest portion of the state, in a region known as the Mixteca Alta, with a population of about 17,450....
 in the state of Oaxaca
Oaxaca

The Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca }} is one of the 31 Mexican state of Mexico, located in the southern part of the country, west of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec....
 in 1906. He is one of the most influential personalities in the development of modern Mexico.

use of his father's work, during he lived in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, while attending school in Eagle Pass, Texas.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'José Vasconcelos'
Start a new discussion about 'José Vasconcelos'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


José Vasconcelos Calderón (February 28 1882, Oaxaca, Oaxaca
Oaxaca, Oaxaca

The city of Oaxaca is the capital and largest city of the Mexico Oaxaca .It is located in the Valley of Oaxaca in the Sierra Madre del Sur Mountains, at near the geographic center of the state, and at an altitude of about 1550 m ....
 – June 30 1959, Mexico City
Mexico City

Mexico City is the capital city of Mexico. It is the most important economic, industrial, and cultural center in the country; the most populous city with over 8,836,045 inhabitants in 2008....
) was a Mexican
Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
 writer, philosopher and politician of Spanish
Spanish people

Spanish people or Spaniards are a nation or ethnic group native to Spain, in the Iberian Peninsula of southwestern Europe. They are often considered an amalgam of different ethnic groups, rather than an ethnic group by itself....
, Italian
Italian people

The Italian people are a Southern European ethnic group located primarily in Italy and, by virtue of a wide-ranging Italian diaspora, throughout Western Europe, the Americas and Australia....
, and Portuguese
Portuguese people

The Portuguese people are the ethnic group or nation native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of Southern Europe-Western Europe Europe....
 ancestry. He married Serafina Miranda of Tlaxiaco
Tlaxiaco

Tlaxiaco is a city, and its surrounding Municipalities of Oaxaca of the same name, in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is located in the northwest portion of the state, in a region known as the Mixteca Alta, with a population of about 17,450....
 in the state of Oaxaca
Oaxaca

The Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca }} is one of the 31 Mexican state of Mexico, located in the southern part of the country, west of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec....
 in 1906. He is one of the most influential personalities in the development of modern Mexico.

Life

Because of his father's work, during he lived in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, while attending school in Eagle Pass, Texas. After graduating as a lawyer from the Escuela de Jurisprudencia in Mexico City (1905), he represented the Anti-Reelection Club in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the Capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790....
, USA
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, and supported the Mexican Revolution
Mexican Revolution

The Mexican Revolution was a major armed struggle that started in 1910 with an uprising led by Francisco I. Madero against longtime autocrat Porfirio D?az....
 of 1910 headed by Francisco I. Madero
Francisco I. Madero

Francisco Ignacio Madero Gonz?lez was a politician, writer and revolutionary who served as President of Mexico of Mexico from 1911 to 1913. As a respectable upper-class politician he supplied a center around which opposition to the dictatorship of Porfirio D?az could coalesce....
. When Madero was democratically elected president of Mexico, Vasconcelos led a structural change at the National Preparatory School, where he changed the scholar programs, breaking with the positivistic
Positivism

Positivism is a philosophy which holds that the only authentic knowledge is that based on actual sense experience. Such knowledge can come only from affirmation of theories through strict scientific method....
 influence. After Madero's assassination, promoted by the US ambassador Henry Lane Wilson
Henry Lane Wilson

Henry Lane Wilson was an United States diplomacy.Wilson was born in Columbus, New Mexico; he was a witness of the fall of General Porfirio Diaz government....
, Vasconcelos organized a democratic movement in order to defeat the military regime of Victoriano Huerta
Victoriano Huerta

Jos? Victoriano Huerta M?rquez was a Mexico military officer and president of Mexico....
. Soon after, he was exiled in Paris
Paris

Paris is the Capital of France and the country's largest city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the ?le-de-France Regions of France ....
, where he met Julio Torri
Julio Torri

Julio Torri Maynes was a Mexican writer and teacher who formed part of the Ateneo de la Juventud . He wrote principally in the essay form, although his limited production included short stories and scholarly works as well....
, Doctor Atl, Gabriele D'Annunzio
Gabriele D'Annunzio

Gabriele d'Annunzio was an Italy poet, journalist, novelist, dramatist, and daredevil who went on to have a controversial role in politics as an influence on the Italian Fascist movement and the alleged forerunner of Benito Mussolini....
 and other intellectuals and artists of that time.

After the National Convention of 1914, Vasconcelos was elected minister of education during the brief presidential period of Eulalio Gutiérrez
Eulalio Gutiérrez

Eulalio Guti?rrez Ortiz was elected provisional president of Mexico during the Aguascalientes Convention and led the country from November 6, 1914 until January 16, 1915....
. Later, after a brief period of exile in the United States following a disagreement with Venustiano Carranza
Venustiano Carranza

Venustiano Carranza Garza was one of the leaders of the Mexican Revolution. He ultimately became President of Mexico following the overthrow of the dictatorial Huerta regime in the summer of 1914 and during his administration the 1917 Constitution of Mexico of Mexico was drafted....
 (1915–20), he returned and directed the National University of Mexico
Unam

UNAM or UNaM may refer to:*National Autonomous University of Mexico , the large public autonomous university based in Mexico City*Club Universidad Nacional, a soccer club based in Mexico City, better known as Pumas de la UNAM...
 (1920) and created the Ministry of Public Education (SEP), in 1921.

He served as the first Secretary of Public Education under Álvaro Obregón
Álvaro Obregón

General ?lvaro Obreg?n Salido was President of Mexico of Mexico from 1920 to 1924.Born in Siquisiva, Sonora, Municipality of Navojoa to a poor farming family, He entered politics in 1911 with his election as mayor of the town of Huatabampo....
). He resigned in 1924 because of his opposition to President Plutarco Elías Calles
Plutarco Elías Calles

Plutarco El?as Calles was a Mexico general and politician. He was president of Mexico from 1924 to 1928, but he continued to be the de facto ruler of from 1928-1935, a period known as the maximato....
. From that position he worked in favour of the education of the masses and oriented the nation's education efforts along secular, civic, and pan-American (americanista) lines. He ran for president
President of Mexico

The Constitutional Citizen President of the United Mexican States is the head of state of Mexico. Under the 1917 Constitution of Mexico, the president is also the head of government and the Commander-in-chief of the Mexican Military of Mexico....
 in 1929 but lost to Pascual Ortiz Rubio
Pascual Ortiz Rubio

Pascual Ortiz Rubio was a Mexico politician. He was born in Morelia, Michoac?n as the son of Pascual Ortiz de Ayala y Huerta and Lenor Rubio Cornelis....
 in a controversial election process and again left the country. He later directed the National Library (1940) and presided over the Mexican Institute of Hispanic Culture (1948).

Philosophical thought


His first writings on philosophy are passionate reactions against the formal, positivistic
Positivism

Positivism is a philosophy which holds that the only authentic knowledge is that based on actual sense experience. Such knowledge can come only from affirmation of theories through strict scientific method....
 education at the National Preparatory School, formerly under the influence of porfirian
Porfirio Díaz

Jos? de la Cruz Porfirio D?az Mori was a Mexico politician who would later become the President of Mexico from 1876 to 1880 and from 1884 to 1911, and one of the most controversial figures of the country....
 thinkers like Justo Sierra
Justo Sierra

Justo Sierra M?ndez , was a prominent Mexico writer, journalist, poet and political figure of the second half of the nineteenth century. He was the son of Mexican novelist Justo Sierra O'Reilly, who is credited with inspiring his son with the spirit of literature....
 and Gabino Barreda
Gabino Barreda

Gabino Barreda was a Mexico physician and philosophy oriented to France positivism.After participating in the U.S.-Mexican War defending his country as a volunteer, he studied medicine in Paris ....
.

A second period of productivity was fed by a first disappointment in the political field, after Madero's murder. Then he wrote, in 1919, a long essay on Pythagorism
Pythagoras

Pythagoras of Samos was an Ionians Ancient Greeks mathematician and founder of the religious movement called Pythagoreanism. He is often revered as a great mathematician, mysticism and scientist; however some have questioned the scope of his contributions to mathematics and natural philosophy....
, as a dissertation on the links between harmony
Harmony

In Western music, harmony is the use of different pitches simultaneously, and chord s, actual or implied, in music. The word is related to the word "harmonic" which implies related wavelengths of waves....
 and rhythm
Rhythm

Rhythm is the variation of the length and accentuation of a series of sounds or other events....
, and its eventual explanation into a frame of aesthetic
Aesthetics

Aesthetics or esthetics is commonly known as the study of senses or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste ....
 monism. As he argued that only by the means of rhythm the human being is able to know the world without any intermediation, he proposed that the minimal aspects of cognition are conditioned by a degree of sympathy with the natural "vibration" of things. In this manner, he thought that the auditive categories of knowledge were much higher than the visual ones.

During a later period, Vasconcelos developed the argumentation of a new study on the mixing of races, as a natural and desirable inertia of the humankind. This work, known as La raza cósmica
La Raza Cósmica

Published in 1925, 'La Raza C?smica' is an essay written by late Mexico philosopher, secretary of education, and 1929 presidential candidate, Jos? Vasconcelos to express the ideology of a future "fifth Race " in the Americas; an agglomeration of all the races in the world with no respect to color or number to erect a new civilization: Un...
 (The Cosmic Race), would eventually contribute to further studies on ethnic values as an ethic
Ethics

Ethics is a word for a philosophy that encompasses proper conduct and good living. It is significantly broader than the common conception of ethics as the analyzing of right and wrong....
 power, and for the consideration of ethnic variety as aesthetic source. Finally, between 1931 and 1940 he tried to consolidate his proposals by publishing his main topics organized in three capital works: Metaphisics, Ethics and Aesthetics.

Influence

His research on the nature of Mexican modern identity had a direct influence in the young writers, poets, anthropologists and philosophers who wrote on this subject. He also influenced the point of view of Carlos Pellicer
Carlos Pellicer

Carlos Pellicer C?mara , born in Villahermosa, Tabasco, was part of the first wave of modernist Mexico poets and was heavily active in the promotion of Mexican art and literature....
 about several aesthetic assumptions reflected in his books. Together, he and Vasconcelos made a trip through Middle East
Middle East

File:GreaterMiddleEast1.pngThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, western Asia, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East....
 (1928-29), looking for the "spiritual basis" of the Byzantine
Byzantium

Byzantium was an Ancient Greece city, which was founded by Greeks colonists from Megara in 667 BC and named after their king Byzas or Byzantas ....
 architecture.

Other works, particularly La raza cósmica and Metafísica, had a decisive influence in Octavio Paz
Octavio Paz

Octavio Paz Lozano was a Mexican writer, poet, and diplomacy, and the winner of the 1990 Nobel Prize for Literature....
's El laberinto de la soledad, with anthropologic and aesthetic implications. Paz wrote that Vasconcelos was "the teacher", who educated hundreds of young Latin America
Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages ? particularly Spanish language and Portuguese language, and variably French language ? are primarily spoken....
n intellectuals (during his many trips to Central
Central America

Central America is a central geography region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmus portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast....
 and South America
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
). Vasconcelos was guest lecturer at Columbia University
Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York , is a private university in the United States and a member of the Ivy League. Columbia's main campus lies in the Morningside Heights, Manhattan neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, in New York City....
 and Princeton University
Princeton University

Princeton University is a private university university located in Princeton, New Jersey, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League and has the largest per-student Financial endowment in the world....
, but his influence on the U.S. new generations was gradually less significant. Nevertheless, his work La raza cósmica was used by Chicano
Chicano

Chicano is a word for a Mexican American . The terms Chicano and Chicana were originally used by and regarding U.S. citizens of Mexican descent....
 and Mexican-American movements since the 1970s, claiming for the establishment of a new culture in the American Southwest, based on their Mexican ancestry.

Contributions to the arts and education


Thanks to José Vasconcelos, the National Symphonic Orchestra (1920) and the Symphonic Orchestra of Mexico (1928) were officially endorsed. Muralists Diego Rivera
Diego Rivera

Diego Rivera was born Diego Mar?a de la Concepci?n Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodr?guez in Guanajuato City....
 and David Alfaro Siqueiros
David Alfaro Siqueiros

Jos? David Alfaro Siqueiros was a social realist List of painters , and also a Stalinism, known for large murals in fresco that established the Mexican Muralism together with work by Diego Rivera, Jos? Clemente Orozco, and others....
 were given the rights to paint the inner walls of the most important public buildings in Mexico (eg. the National Palace
National Palace (Mexico)

The National Palace is the seat of the Federalism Executive branch in Mexico. It is located on Mexico City's main square, the Plaza de la Constituci?n ....
 in the capital
Mexico City

Mexico City is the capital city of Mexico. It is the most important economic, industrial, and cultural center in the country; the most populous city with over 8,836,045 inhabitants in 2008....
), almost singlehandedly creating the Mexican mural
Mexican murals

Mexican murals are an important part of Mexico culture and history. Murals have been used for political, social, environmental, and cultural representation....
 movement.

Quotations


"... the leaders of the Latin American independence ... strived to free the slaves, declared the equality of all men by natural law; the social and civic equality of whites, blacks and indians. In an instant of historical crisis, they formulated the transcendental mission assigned to that region of the Globe: the mission of fusing ethnically and spiritually the peoples." (La raza cósmica, 1948)

"Each of the great nations of History has believed to be the final and chosen one. [...] The Hebrews founded the belief in their superiority on oracles and divine promises. The English found theirs on observations relative to domestic animals. From the observation of cross-breeding and hereditary varieties in such animals, Darwinism emerged. First, as a modest zoological theory, then as social biology that confers definitive preponderance to the English above all races. Every imperialism needs a justifying philosophy". (La raza cósmica, 1948)

"Hitler, although he disposes of absolute power, finds himself a thousand leagues from Caesarism. Power does not come to Hitler from the military base, but from the book that inspires the troops from the top. Hitler's power is not owed to the troops, nor the battalions, but to his own discussions... Hitler represents, ultimately, an idea, the German idea, so often humiliated previously by French militarism and English perfidy. Truthfully, against Hitler we find civilian governed 'democracies' fighting. But they are democracies in name only". ("La Inteligencia se impone", Timon 16, June 8, 1940)

Philosophical publications


  • Pitágoras (1919)
  • El monismo estético (1919)
  • La Raza Cósmica
    La Raza Cósmica

    Published in 1925, 'La Raza C?smica' is an essay written by late Mexico philosopher, secretary of education, and 1929 presidential candidate, Jos? Vasconcelos to express the ideology of a future "fifth Race " in the Americas; an agglomeration of all the races in the world with no respect to color or number to erect a new civilization: Un...
     (1925)
  • Indología (1926)
  • Metafísica (1929)
  • Pesimismo alegre (1931)
  • Estética (1936)
  • Ética (1939)
  • Historia del pensamiento filosófico (1937)
  • Lógica orgánica (1945)


Other works


  • Teoría dinámica del derecho (1907)
  • La intelectualidad mexicana (1916)
  • Ulises criollo (1935)
  • La tormenta
    La Tormenta

    La Tormenta is a Colombian telenovela originally produced by RTI Colombia and broadcast by Telemundo and Caracol TV, starring Natalia Streignard and Christian Meier....
     (1936)
  • Breve Historia de México (1937)
  • El desastre (1938)
  • El proconsulado (1939)
  • El ocaso de mi vida (1957)


See also

  • Vasconcelos, José, La Raza Cósmica
    La Raza Cósmica

    Published in 1925, 'La Raza C?smica' is an essay written by late Mexico philosopher, secretary of education, and 1929 presidential candidate, Jos? Vasconcelos to express the ideology of a future "fifth Race " in the Americas; an agglomeration of all the races in the world with no respect to color or number to erect a new civilization: Un...
    .


Further reading

  • Bar Lewaw, Itzhak. Introducción Crítico-Biografía a José Vasconcelos. Madrid: Ediciones Latinoamericanas, 1965.


  • ---. José Vasconcelos. México: Clásica Selecta Editora Libreria, 1965.


  • Carballo, Emmanuel. Diecinueve protagonistas de la literatura mexicana del siglo XX. México: Empresas Editoriales, SA, 1965; see especially. 17-47.


  • De Beer, Gabriela. "El ateneo y los atenistas: un examen retrospectivo". Revista Iberoamericana 148-149, Vol 55 (1989): 737-749.


  • Molloy, Sylvia. "First Memories, First Myths: Vasconcelos' Ulises criollo". En At Face Value: Autobiographical Writing in Spanish America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991, pp. 186-208.


  • Ward, Thomas. "José Vasconcelos y su cosmomología de la raza". En La resistencia cultural: la nación en el ensayo de las Américas. Lima: Editorial Universitaria URP, 2004, pp. 246-254.


External links

  • at www.britannica.com
  • at www.lib.utexas.edu