Antonio Castro Leal (March 2, 1896 – January 7, 1981) was a

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

and

intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator or a ...

Biography

Antonio Castro Leal was born on March 2, 1896, in

San Luis Potosí San Luis Potosí (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of San Luis Potosí ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de San Luis Potosí), is one of the 32 states which compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 58 municipalities and i ...

. He received his licenciate and doctor of law degrees from the

National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...

and his PhD from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Castro Leal was rector of

UNAM The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...

in 1929 during the student strikes that ultimately lead to the university becoming autonomous, after which he resigned his post. In 1934 as Director of the Department of Fine Arts he inaugurated the

Palacio de Bellas Artes The Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts) is a prominent cultural center in Mexico City. It has hosted notable events in music, dance, theatre, opera and literature in Mexico and has held important exhibitions of painting, sculpture and p ...

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

. He lived in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

from 1949 to 1954 as Mexico's ambassador and executive board member for

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

, after which he moved to

Coyoacán Coyoacán ( , ) is a borough (''demarcación territorial'') in Mexico City. The former village is now the borough's "historic center". The name comes from Nahuatl and most likely means "place of coyotes", when the Aztecs named a pre-Hispanic vil ...

, in Mexico City, where he lived for the rest of his life. He died on January 7, 1981.

Main posts held

(This is an incomplete list.) *Rector of the

(UNAM) - 1928-29 *Director of the Department of Fine Arts - 1934 *Mexican ambassador to

- 1949-52 *Member of UNESCO's executive board - 1950-54 *Member of Congress - 1958-61

Works

(This is an incomplete list.) * ''Las cien mejores poesías liricas mexicanas'' (ed. with

Manuel Toussaint Manuel may refer to: People * Manuel (name) * Manuel (Fawlty Towers), a fictional character from the sitcom ''Fawlty Towers'' * Charlie Manuel, manager of the Philadelphia Phillies * Manuel I Komnenos, emperor of the Byzantine Empire * M ...

and

Alberto Vázquez del Mercado Alberto is the Romance version of the Latinized form (''Albertus'') of Germanic ''Albert''. It is used in Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. The diminutive forms are ''Albertito'' in Spain or ''Albertico'' in some parts of Latin America, Albertin ...

) (1914) * ''The Church Problem in Mexico'' (pamphlet) (1926) * ''Las cien mejores poesias mexicanas'' (ed.) (1935) * ''Juan Ruiz de Alarcón. Ingenio y sabiduría'' (1939) * ''Twenty Centuries of Mexican Art'' - (introd.) (1940) * ''Revista de literatura mexicana'' (1940–1941) * ''El libro de oro del cine mexicano'' (''The Golden Book of Mexican Cinematography'') (coord.) (1948) (Comisión Nacional de Cinematografía, México, D.F.) * ''Las dos partes del Quijote'' (1949) * ''La poesía mexicana moderna'' (1953) * ''Una historia del siglo XX'' (1955) * ''Las ideas de

Salvador Díaz Mirón Salvador Díaz Mirón (December 14, 1853 – June 12, 1928) was a Mexican poet. He was born in the port city of Veracruz. His early verse, written in a passionate, romantic style, was influenced by Lord Byron and Victor Hugo. His later ver ...

'' (1956) * ''La novela de la Revolución Mexicana'' (1958–1960) * ''El laurel de San Lorenzo'' (1959) * ''Un mensaje a la América Latina y una elegía por España'' (poem) (1960) * ''Alejandro de Humboldt y el arte prehispánico'' (1962) * ''El Primer Congreso Internacional de Americanistas'' (1963) * ''El pensamiento musical de Carlos Chávez'' (1963) * ''La novela del México colonial'' (1964) * '' Luis G. Urbina'' (1964) * ''Las tragedias de Shakespeare'' (1965) * ''Thoreau y su discípulo Cassius Clay'' (1967) * ''¿A dónde va México? Reflexiones sobre nuestra historia contemporánea'' (1968) * ''Hombres e ideas de nuestro tiempo'' (1969) * ''Díaz Mirón, su vida y su obra'' (1970) * ''El español, instrumento de una cultura'' (1970) * ''La poesía de Manuel José Othón'' (1971) * ''El imperialismo andaluz y otras historias'' (1984)

As a translator

Castro Leal also translated

Maurice Dobb Maurice Herbert Dobb (24 July 1900 – 17 August 1976) was an English economist at Cambridge University and a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. He is remembered as one of the pre-eminent Marxist economists of the 20th century. Dobb was bo ...

's ''Introduction to Economics'' for Mexico's

Fondo de Cultura Económica Fondo de Cultura Económica (FCE or simply "Fondo") is a Spanish language, non-profit publishing group, partly funded by the Mexican government. It is based in Mexico but it has subsidiaries throughout the Spanish-speaking world. It was founded in ...

References

* * * *

Biography

Main posts held

Works

As a translator

References

See also