Alfredo Barrera Vázquez (1900—December 28, 1980) was a Mexican

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

, academic and

Mayanist A Mayanist ( es, mayista) is a scholar specialising in research and study of the Mesoamerican pre-Columbian Maya civilisation. This discipline should not be confused with Mayanism, a collection of New Age beliefs about the ancient Maya. Mayan ...

scholar. He is noted for both his research into the historical

Maya civilization The Maya civilization () of the Mesoamerican people is known by its ancient temples and glyphs. Its Maya script is the most sophisticated and highly developed writing system in the pre-Columbian Americas. It is also noted for its art, archit ...

of the

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, th ...

era and his contributions promoting literacy in

Mayan languages The Mayan languagesIn linguistics, it is conventional to use ''Mayan'' when referring to the languages, or an aspect of a language. In other academic fields, ''Maya'' is the preferred usage, serving as both a singular and plural noun, and as ...

and the culture of contemporary

Maya peoples The Maya peoples () are an ethnolinguistic group of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica. The ancient Maya civilization was formed by members of this group, and today's Maya are generally descended from people ...

. He has been described as "...perhaps the greatest Maya scholar to emerge from the actual land of the Maya."Stuart (1992, p.29).

Biography

His parents were Narciso Barrera Madera and Eloísa Vásquez Bolívar. He was bilingual in both Maya and Spanish from his childhood. At a young age he traveled to Europe where he went to finish his secondary education. In 1917 he returned to Mérida,

Yucatán Yucatán (, also , , ; yua, Yúukatan ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Yucatán,; yua, link=no, Xóot' Noj Lu'umil Yúukatan. is one of the 31 states which comprise the political divisions of Mexico, federal entities of Mexico. I ...

to begin studying at the state’s School of Fine Arts, two years later he went to Mexico City to continue studying painting and engraving, as well as entering the National Normal School of Teachers. In 1922 he came back to Mérida and taught at the School of Fine Arts and the Faculty of Engineering. From 1927 to 1932 he continued his studies in Philosophy and Letters in Mexico City, and traveled to Spain to study Spanish literature.

Notes

References

* Mayanists Linguists of Mesoamerican languages Mesoamerican anthropologists Mexican Mesoamericanists 20th-century Mesoamericanists Mexican anthropologists People from Yucatán Members of the Mexican Academy of Language 1900 births 1980 deaths 20th-century anthropologists {{mexico-linguist-stub