Andrés Henestrosa Morales (November 25, 1906 – January 10, 2008) was a Mexican writer and politician. In addition to his prose and poetry, Henestrosa was elected to the federal legislature, serving three terms in the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

, and as a

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for the state of

Oaxaca Oaxaca, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of the Mexico, United Mexican States. It is divided into municipalities of Oaxaca, 570 munici ...

from 1982 to 1988. He was born in Ixhuatán, Oaxaca.

Youth and studies

Andrés Henestrosa started studying at Juchitán, Oaxaca. Until he was 15 he only could speak his native language, Zapotec. After finishing his basic education, Henestrosa moved to

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and started studying at the National Teacher's School, where he learned Spanish excellently. Then, he studied at the National High School and after, at the Jurisprudence National School, where he started law studies but he did not graduate. At the same time, he studied at the

Philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and

Literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

Faculty at the

National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public university, public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countri ...

(UNAM). Around that time (1927) one of his teachers,

Alfonso Caso Alfonso Caso y Andrade (1 February 1896 – 30 November 1970) was an archaeologist who made important contributions to pre-Columbian studies in his native Mexico. As a university student, he was part of a group of young intellectuals known as '' ...

, encouraged what would be the start of his career: he suggested Henestrosa write down Zapotec myths, legends and fables, which formed the basis of his first book, '' The Men Scattered by Dance'', published in 1929.

Academic work

Henestrosa contributed in many ways to Zapotec culture, keeping a line of investigation and exaltation of it; he also was one of the Mexican exponents of the literary movement called Indianismo, since his first book. He also wrote essays and political documents during his long career. In 1936, Henestrosa was awarded the first of two fellowships he would receive from the Guggenheim Foundation to investigate Zapotec culture and linguistics. He worked on Zapotec language phonetization, its adaptation using the

Latin alphabet The Latin alphabet, also known as the Roman alphabet, is the collection of letters originally used by the Ancient Rome, ancient Romans to write the Latin language. Largely unaltered except several letters splitting—i.e. from , and from � ...

, and a Zapotec–Spanish dictionary. During this trip, while in New Orleáns in 1937, he wrote one of his most famous books: ''

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'' ("El retrato de mi madre"). He was a member of the Mexican Language Academy from October 23, 1964, to his death, as numerary member with chair 23. He was the

treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

of the Academy from 1965 to 2000. Andrés Henestrosa was one of the most prominent members of the Mexican intelligentsia.

1949 Mexicana DC-3 crash

Henestrosa was supposed to be on a DC-3 that crashed on September 26, 1949, killing all 23 onboard. He had a premonition and instead boarded a train from Tapachula, the city he was traveling from, to Mexico City.

Political career

In 1929, he supported (as did many UNAM students) the presidential campaign of

José Vasconcelos José Vasconcelos Calderón (28 February 1882 – 30 June 1959), called the "cultural " of the Mexican Revolution, was an important Mexicans, Mexican writer, philosopher, and politician. He is one of the most influential and controversial pers ...

, being an active part of the campaign acts and writing many essays and chronicles. But almost all of the original hand-wrote transcriptions were lost, being published in many magazines and newspapers. In 1946, he joins the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). In 1982 he was elected senator for his home state, Oaxaca, as a member of the

Institutional Revolutionary Party The Institutional Revolutionary Party (, , PRI) is a List of political parties in Mexico, political party in Mexico that was founded in 1929 as the National Revolutionary Party (, PNR), then as the Party of the Mexican Revolution (, PRM) and fin ...

Awards

Belisario Domínguez Medal of Honor The Belisario Domínguez Medal of Honor () is the highest award bestowed by the Mexican Senate. It forms part of the Mexican Honors System and is currently Mexico's highest active award since there are no records of the '' Condecoración "Migu ...

, 1993. *

National Prize for Arts and Sciences The National Prize for Arts and Sciences () is awarded annually by the Government of Mexico in six categories. It is part of the Mexican Honours System and was established in 1945 by President Manuel Ávila Camacho to promote the country's artistic ...

in the Linguistics and literature category, 1994.

References

External links

Brief bio for Andrés Henestrosa''
* ttps://www.loc.gov/item/93842842 Andrés Henestrosa recorded at the Library of Congress for the Hispanic Division’s audio literary archive on Oct. 28, 1960 {{DEFAULTSORT:Henestrosa, Andres 1906 births 2008 deaths 20th-century Mexican educators 21st-century Mexican educators Linguists from Mexico Members of the Senate of the Republic (Mexico) Members of the Mexican Academy of Language Mexican men centenarians National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni Recipients of the Belisario Domínguez Medal of Honor Zapotec people Writers from Oaxaca 20th-century linguists 20th-century Native American people 21st-century Native American writers