Eraclio Zepeda (March 24, 1937 – September 17, 2015) was a Mexican writer, poet and politician.
Education
He attended college at the Universidad Militarizada Latinoamericana, where he started a Marxism study group with Jaime Labastida, Jaime Augusto Shelley and Nils Castro. He read Social Anthropology at
Universidad Veracruzana
Universidad Veracruzana (Spanish for ''University of Veracruz'') is a public autonomous university located in the Mexican state of Veracruz. Established in 1944, the university is one of the most important in the southeast region of México. It ...
, where he joined leftist political groups, which reflects on his literary works.
In 1960 he attended the first Youth Latin America Congress in
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
and during the
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs Invasion (, sometimes called ''Invasión de Playa Girón'' or ''Batalla de Playa Girón'' after the Playa Girón) was a failed military landing operation on the southwestern coast of Cuba in 1961 by Cuban exiles, covertly fina ...
he enrolled as a soldier with Carlos Jurado, Nils Castro, and Roque Dalton, being named the official responsible for the Combat Special Unit.
Career
Teaching
Zepeda was a teacher at the San Cristóbal de las Casas's Preparatory School as well its law school in 1957. He taught at Universidad Veracruzana from 1958 to 1960, at
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
's
Universidad de Oriente
The University of Oriente Venezuela ( es, Universidad de Oriente Venezuela, links=no, UDO) is one of the most important universities of Venezuela, located in Eastern Venezuela.
The university has five campuses that are located in the states of ...
in 1961 and one year later at the
Universidad de La Habana
The University of Havana or (UH, ''Universidad de La Habana'') is a university located in the Vedado district of Havana, the capital of the Republic of Cuba. Founded on January 5, 1728, the university is the oldest in Cuba, and one of the first ...
, as well as at the Escuela de Instructores de Arte de La Habana and the Instituto de Lenguas Extranjeras de Pekín.
Eraclio Zepeda created the Compañía Nacional de Subsistencias Populares rural orientation group in 1967, founded the ''Teatro de Orientación Campesina'' (Theatre of Rural Orientation), where he would produce the radio soap opera ''San Martín de la Piedra''; and founded the newspaper ''El Correo Campesino''.
Politics
He participated in a series of movements against the governor of
Chiapas
Chiapas (; Tzotzil language, Tzotzil and Tzeltal language, Tzeltal: ''Chyapas'' ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas), is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, ...
, Efraín Aranda Osorio, because of his actions of social dissolution. from 1958 to 1959, Zepeda was a member of the Rural Worker's Party, and then moved on to the Mexican Communist Party, the party that would be most active from 1969 to 1981. In the MCP, he was a member of the central committee and the political correspondent commission in Moscow called ''"La Voz de México"'' ("The Voice of Mexico").
He was cofounder and a member of the central committee of the
Unified Socialist Party of Mexico
The Unified Socialist Party of Mexico ( es, Partido Socialista Unificado de México, PSUM) was a socialist political party in Mexico. It later became the Socialist Mexican Party () in 1988.
History
The PSUM was founded in November 1981 by the me ...
and of the
Socialist Mexican Party
The Socialist Mexican Party (, PMS) was a left-wing Mexican political party, and one of the immediate antecedents of the present Party of the Democratic Revolution. It was the last effort to unify the different Mexican left-wing parties, as well ...
, being a candidate for the presidency and a candidate for senator of Chiapas. He was federal deputy of the USPM in the LIII Legislature of the Congress of Mexico. In 1989, he was cofounder and a member of the warranty commission of the
Party of the Democratic Revolution
The Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD, es, Partido de la Revolución Democrática, ) is a social democratic political party in Mexico. The PRD originated from the Democratic Current, a political faction formed in 1986 from the Institut ...
. Between December 1994 and April 1997, he was secretary of government in the state of Chiapas, with governors Eduardo Robledo Rincón and Julio César Ruiz Ferro.
Awards and honors
* Commemorative Medal of the
National Indigenist Institute in 1980.
* ''
Premio Xavier Villaurrutia The Xavier Villaurrutia Award (Premio Xavier Villaurrutia) is a prestigious literary prize given in Mexico, to a Latin American writer published in Mexico. Founded in 1955, it was named in memory of Xavier Villaurrutia.
Multiple awards have been g ...
'' for ''Andando el tiempo'' in 1982.
* Member of the
Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte The Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte (SNCA; ''National System of Art Creators'') is program developed by the former Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, and founded per presidential decree on September 3, 1993. Its goal is the advancem ...
since 1994.
*
Belisario Domínguez Medal of Honor
The Belisario Domínguez Medal of Honor (Spanish: ''Medalla de Honor "Belisario Domínguez" del Senado de la República'') is the highest award bestowed by the Mexican Senate.
It forms part of the Mexican Honors System and is currently Mexico's ...
, 2014.
*
Premio Nacional de Ciencias y Artes en el área de Lingüística y Literatura awarded by the
Secretaría de Educación Pública
The Mexican Secretariat of Public Education ( in Spanish ''Secretaría de Educación Pública'', ''SEP'') is a federal government authority with cabinet representation and the responsibility for overseeing the development and implementation of ...
in 2014.
Works
Short stories
* ''Benzulul'' (1959)
* ''Asalto nocturno'' (1979)
* ''Ratón-que-vuela'' (1989)
* ''Horas de vuelo'' (2001)
* ''Quien dice la verdad''
Novels
* ''Las grandes lluvias'' (2005)
* ''Tocar el fuego'' (2007)
*sobre esta tierra
*viento del siglo
Plays
* ''El tiempo y el agua'' (1960)
Poems
* ''La espiga amotinada'' (1960)
* ''Ocupación de la palabra'' (1965)
* ''Elegía a Rubén Jaramillo'' (1963)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zepeda, Eraclio
Mexican male novelists
People from Tuxtla Gutiérrez
1937 births
2015 deaths
Mexican male poets
Mexican male dramatists and playwrights
Mexican male short story writers
Mexican short story writers
20th-century Mexican dramatists and playwrights
20th-century Mexican poets
Unified Socialist Party of Mexico politicians
Socialist Mexican Party politicians
Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Mexico)
20th-century Mexican male writers