Aquiles Serdán Alatriste (2 November 1876 – 18 November 1910) was a Mexican politician. He was born in the city of

Puebla, Puebla Puebla de Zaragoza (; nah, Cuetlaxcoapan), formally Heroica Puebla de Zaragoza, formerly Puebla de los Ángeles during colonial times, or known in English simply as Puebla, is the seat of Puebla Municipality. It is the capital and largest city ...

, and was a supporter of the

Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution ( es, Revolución Mexicana) was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from approximately 1910 to 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It resulted in the destruction ...

led by

Francisco I. Madero Francisco Ignacio Madero González (; 30 October 1873 – 22 February 1913) was a Mexican businessman, revolutionary, writer and statesman, who became the 37th president of Mexico from 1911 until he was deposed in a coup d'etat in February 1 ...

. His family was politically active and involved. His grandfather, Miguel C. Alatriste, was a strong liberal during the Reform, and served as governor of the state of Puebla in 1857. During the

French Intervention This is a list of wars involving France and its predecessor states. It is an incomplete list of French and proto-French wars and battles from the foundation of Frankish Kingdom, Francia by Clovis I, the Merovingian dynasty, Merovingian king who uni ...

, Alatriste fought against the invaders and their Mexican conservative allies, was captured and executed.David G. LaFrance, "Aquiles Serdán" in ''Encyclopedia or Mexico''. vol. 2, p. 1340-41. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn 1997. His father, Manuel Serdán, was one of the founders of the ''Partido Socialista Mexicano'' (Mexican Socialist Party), and co-authored ''La Ley del Pueblo'' that called for agrarian reform. Manuel Serdán disappeared, perhaps murdered by authorities. Aquiles Serdán was a shoemaker by trade, as was his father, Manuel Serdán. He read

's 1909 book, ''The Presidential Succession of 1910'', in which Madero laid out the problems of Mexico under

Porfirio Díaz José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori ( or ; ; 15 September 1830 – 2 July 1915), known as Porfirio Díaz, was a Mexican general and politician who served seven terms as President of Mexico, a total of 31 years, from 28 November 1876 to 6 Decem ...

's rule and called for open elections. Serdán corresponded with Madero and organized an Anti-Reelectionist Club in the city of Puebla, joined mainly by textile workers.Stanley R. Ross, ''Francisco I. Madero: Apostle of Democracy''. New York: Columbia University Press 1955, pp. 121-22. He became a revolutionary, opposing Díaz. Serdán was arrested by Díaz's government, spending October - December 1909 in prison. He actively campaigned for Madero in the 1910 presidential elections, but when Madero was arrested and fraudulent elections held, Serdán left for the United States. After the Electoral College declared Díaz and

Ramón Corral Ramón Corral Verdugo (January 10, 1854 – November 10, 1912) was the Vice President of Mexico under Porfirio Díaz from 1904 until their resignations in May 1911. Early life Corral was born Ramón Corral Verdugo on Hacienda Las Mercedes ( ...

victors in the 1910 elections, Serdán is reported to have said, "Do not intone the hosanna of Victory, Señores Porfiristas and Corralistas, for we Anti-Reelectionists have not yet fired the last cartridge." When Madero escaped jail in 1910 and issued the

Plan of San Luis Potosí 230px, Francisco I. Madero, future President of Mexico The Plan of San Luis de Potosí () is a key political document of the Mexican Revolution, written by Mexican presidential candidate Francisco I. Madero, following his escape from jail. He ...

, which called for rebellion throughout Mexico on November 20, 1910, Serdán returned to Puebla to organize revolution there. He and his brother Máximo bought arms and raised support from men to bear them. His sister Carmen Serdán went to San Antonio, Texas, a center of exiled Mexican revolutionaries, and obtained 20,000 pesos for the rebellion. The Díaz government got wind of the Serdán's revolutionary activities and the Puebla police chief and men under his command came to the Serdán family home, where violence ensued on 18 November 1910. Serdán, his brother Máximo, and his wife, mother, and sister Carmen, along with nine men, defended the house. Although he had hopes that the city of Puebla would rise, it did not and the government forces killed Serdán, losing 158 of its own men. When Madero heard of Serdán's death, he is reported to have said, "It does not matter. They have shown us how to die." The northern municipality of

Aquiles Serdán, Chihuahua Aquiles is a client for .NET (3.5 or above) to access Apache Cassandra (0.6 or above). Features Aquiles adds following functionality: * .NET-friendly interface to Cassandra operations. * Byte Enconder Helpers avoid need to create and manage se ...

, was renamed in his honor in 1932;Chihuahua - Aquiles Serdán profile
, e-local.gob.mx; accessed 25 December 2015. he is also remembered by Metro Aquiles Serdán, a station on the

Mexico City Metro The Mexico City Metro ( es, Metro de la Ciudad de México) is a rapid transit system that serves the metropolitan area of Mexico City, including some municipalities in Mexico State. Operated by the Sistema de Transporte Colectivo (STC), it is ...

. His house on Santa Clara Street in the center of Puebla is a museum and remains as he left it the day he was killed.

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Further reading