Guillermo Tovar de Teresa ( Mexico City, August 23, 1956 – ''idem'', November 10, 2013) was a Mexican historian and an art collector (mainly of painting, literature and ancient books, deeply knowledgeable about the work of the great photographers in Mexico), bibliographer, philanthropist, cultural promoter, and scholar. He was a constant defender of the historical and artistic Mexican heritage, mainly from his hometown, of which he was chronicler, an appointment that was originally in charge of the Presidency and to which he resigned to propose the creation of the Council of the Chronicle of the City of Mexico. He was a specialist in the

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Am ...

/Mexican colonial period art, history and literature. He published several books about Colonial Mexican art and collaborated, among others, for the newspaper '' La Jornada''. He stood out for his early intelligence: he learned to read long before entering school, and at age 13 he was advisor to colonial art of the then president Gustavo Díaz Ordaz. At 23, he published his first book, '' Renaissance painting and sculpture in Mexico''. He was a member of the Historical Center Executive Committee, corresponding member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, in Madrid, and honorary member of the Hispanic Society of America, the latter based in New York City.Castaños y Cañedo, FJ (2005). '' Gustarredondo County: Austria, Spain, Guatemala and Mexico: studies and documents. 1667–2005. '' Prologues of

Fernando Muñoz Altea Fernando Muñoz Altea (22 November 1925 - 2 March 2018) was the King of Arms of the Royal House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. He was a Spanish/Mexican historian, specialised in the study of the aristocratic European colonial families of the Americas. ...

José Alberto Saíd José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernac ...

; Carlos González Manterola, ed. Institute of Historical and Genealogical Research of Mexico. He was considered a candidate for the Aesthetic Research Institute of 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 ...

,Interview with Teresa del Conde, cited in: but never wanted to hold a public office or receive any salary. One of his brothers, Rafael Tovar y de Teresa, was since 2012 the head of

National Council for Culture and the Arts The Secretariat of Culture ( es, Secretaría de Cultura), formerly known as the National Council for Culture and Arts ( es, Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes or CONACULTA), is a Mexican government agency in charge of the nation's museum ...

and first

secretary of Culture A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organizat ...

. His house became, in December 2018, a museum, and is part of the

Soumaya Museum The Museo Soumaya is a private museum in Mexico City and a non-profit cultural institution with two museum buildings in Mexico City — Plaza Carso and Plaza Loreto. It has over 66,000 works from 30 centuries of art including sculptures from Pre-H ...

Early years

He learned to appreciate history and art books from a very young age, thanks to his grandfather, Guillermo de Teresa y Teresa, and his father, Dr. Rafael Tovar y Villa Gordoa, his "guardian figures". He said, that ''his grandfather had taught him to read in the pages of the newspaper..''. Self-taught by choice (''I decided to train on my own (...) I was bored''), lived away from universities. At the age of seven he received, from then President Adolfo López Mateos, "a medal in recognition of his dedication to the study of Mexican history and art." At age 11 he was invited by the historian

Jorge Gurría Lacroix Jorge is a Spanish and Portuguese given name. It is derived from the Greek name Γεώργιος (''Georgios'') via Latin ''Georgius''; the former is derived from (''georgos''), meaning "farmer" or "earth-worker". The Latin form ''Georgius' ...

to collaborate in the National Institute of Anthropology and History. At age 12 he was appointed advisor to President Díaz Ordaz in matters of colonial art. At 14, he had already given his first lectures at the Institute of Aesthetic Research of the UNAM, and at a very young age he received a distinction from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando in Madrid. At 16 he concluded his formal investigation into the history of Tacubaya, years later published as ''Historical news of the Miguel Hidalgo Delegation''.

Genealogy

Obras de arte en la Casa Museo Guillermo Tovar de Teresa Valladolid colonia Roma CDMX 21

He was interested in investigating all the branches of his ancestry, passing through some of the largest and oldest families in the

. In 2012, he submitted a request to succeed in the title of count of Gustarredondo, which litigated in Spain asking rights of possession. On the death of Guillermo Tovar, his nephew, Rafael Tovar y López-Portillo, son of Rafael Tovar y Teresa, director of Conaculta and grandson of the president José López-Portillo, requested the subrogation of the rights of his uncle in that title, because he is the firstborn. Guillermo Tovar was a great-grandson of Margarita López-Portillo y Rojas, in turn the sister of the lawyer, governor of the state of Jalisco, novelist, poet, playwright, journalist and language scholar

José López Portillo y Rojas José López Portillo y Rojas (May 26, 1850 – May 22, 1923), born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, was a Mexican lawyer, politician and man of letters. He served as Governor of Jalisco in 1911 and as Secretary of Foreign Affairs in 1914 for coup lea ...

. Guillermo Tovar was also the maternal nephew of the writer

José Bernardo Couto José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernac ...

and maternal great-great-grandson of the writer

José Joaquín Pesado José Joaquín Pesado Pérez (Palmar de Bravo, Puebla, New Spain, 9 February 1801 — Mexico City, 3 March 1861) was a Mexican writer, journalist, poet and politician. He was born in San Agustín del Palmar, Puebla, in 1801 and died in Mexic ...

Topics addressed in his works

He wrote, among others, about the following topics: * Baroque art * Art of Mexico * Culture of Mexico * Viceregal art * Architecture and carpentry Mudejar in the

* Gerónimo de Balbás * Miguel Cabrera *

Metropolitan Cathedral of Mexico City The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Assumption of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven ( es, Catedral Metropolitana de la Asunción de la Bienaventurada Virgen María a los cielos) is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mex ...

(organs and altarpieces) * Historic Center of Mexico City * Photographer's, he was a deep connoisseur of the works by Julio Michaud, Désiré Charnay and Alfred Briquet * History of Mexico *

Luis Lagarto Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish language, Spanish form of the originally Germanic language, Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese language, Portuguese and ...

* New Spanish nuns * Viceroyalty of New Spain utopia

The Council of the Chronicle of Mexico City

Constituted before a notary and registered in the Tax Administration Service, this organization received on August 14, 2007 authorization from the Directorate of Legal Affairs of

National Institute of Fine Arts The Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura (INBAL, en, National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature), located in the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, is the Mexican institution in charge of coordinating artistic and cultural ...

to start their functions. Chaired from 2012 to date by Román Sánchez Fernández.

Chronicle Council Publications

The publisher Editorial Trama, of Madrid, is formally the publisher of the Chronicle Council of Mexico City. Some of his publications are the following: * In 2007, he published, together with the Secretariat of Education of the Federal District, the book '' Ciudad de México: Crónica de sus delegaciones (Mexico City: Chronicle of its delegations)''. It includes a presentation by Guillermo Tovar de Teresa and, at the end, an article by

Carlos Monsiváis Carlos Monsiváis Aceves (May 4, 1938 – June 19, 2010) was a Mexican philosopher, writer, critic, political activist, and journalist. He also wrote political opinion columns in leading newspapers within the country's progressive sectors. ...

, one of the council members, along with

Jesús Ramírez Cuevas Jesus ( AD 30 or 33) was a Jewish preacher and religious leader who most Christians believe to be the incarnation of God and Muslims believe was a prophet. Jesus may also refer to: People Religious figures * Elymas Bar-Jesus, a Jew in the ''Act ...

. The climax is from

Salvador Flores Salvador Flores (Jose Salvador Ramon Flores) (ca. 1806–1855) served as a volunteer in the Texan Army in 1835–1836. He was instrumental in organizing and commanding Texian volunteers in support of the Texas Revolution. He participated in ...

. * In 2009, he published '' Ciudad de México: Crónica de sus delegaciones (Censorship and revolution: Books prohibited by the Inquisition of Mexico: 1790–1819)'', by the authorship of Guillermo Tovar de Teresa and the doctor in history and specialist in nineteenth-century Mexico Cristina Gómez Álvarez. This is an edition by the Windward collection.

Collecting and other interests

* He had, within his vast collection of books, "first editions of (works of) Sr. Juana Inés de la Cruz", and also "the founding book of the Mexico City", an

incunable In the history of printing, an incunable or incunabulum (plural incunables or incunabula, respectively), is a book, pamphlet, or broadside that was printed in the earliest stages of printing in Europe, up to the year 1500. Incunabula were pr ...

: the treaty of architecture of Leon Battista Alberti (the edition of 1512, of Paris), with annotations by the Viceroy himself

Antonio de Mendoza y Pacheco Antonio de Mendoza y Pacheco (, ; 1495 – 21 July 1552) was a Spanish colonial administrator who was the first Viceroy of New Spain, serving from 14 November 1535 to 25 November 1550, and the third Viceroy of Peru, from 23 September 1551, ...

. * He worked as an advisor, before 1983, of

Juan José Bremer ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of '' John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanis ...

in the Undersecretariat of Culture, after having also worked with Pedro Ramírez Vázquez. * He headed, next to the restaurateur Lucía Ruanova Abedrop, the citizen group "El Caballito, Conservación", a restoration plan, which he defended, for the damages suffered during his restoration, of the Equestrian statue of Charles IV of Spain in Mexico city knowns as ''El Caballito'', by Manuel Tolsá. . * He opened in Facebook a group that made a proactive space where he continuously difussed his musical, artistic, historical interests. * He was an advisor, since its inception, on the project for the foundation of Casa Lamm. * He gave a keynote speech on the occasion of the LXXXV anniversary of the foundation of the Miguel Lerdo de Tejada Library.

Other acknowledgments

* Citizen Merit Medal, awarded by the

Assembly of Representatives of the Federal District The Mexico City Congress ( es, Congreso de la Ciudad de México, ALCDMX) is the legislative branch of government of Mexico City. Between 1988 and 1993, it was known as the Assembly of Representatives of the Federal District ( es, Asamblea de Re ...

. * Commander's Cross of the Royal Order of Saints Mauritius and Lazarus, of Royal House of Savoy (2007).

Post Mortem

Obras de arte en la Casa Museo Guillermo Tovar de Teresa Valladolid colonia Roma CDMX 25

* A tribute to him was held in the Auditorium " Jaime Torres Bodet", of the

National Museum of Anthropology The National Museum of Anthropology ( es, Museo Nacional de Antropología, MNA) is a national museum of Mexico. It is the largest and most visited museum in Mexico. Located in the area between Paseo de la Reforma and Mahatma Gandhi Street wit ...

, conducted by the Mexican government on February 13, 2014, and headed by

Emilio Chuayffet Chemor Emilio Chuayffet Chemor (born 3 October 1951) is a Mexican lawyer and politician affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party since 1969. He previously held the office of Governor of the State of Mexico from 1993 to 1995 and Secretary ...

, Secretary of Public Education. * His brothers decided to create the Guillermo Tovar de Teresa Award, which will recognize, every two years, the trajectory of a Mexican whose work seeks to preserve the heritage of Mexico. * On August 6, 2014 a tribute was held in his memory at the

Museum of Mexico City The Museum of Mexico City (Museo de la Ciudad de Mexico) is located at Pino Suarez 30, a few blocks south of the Zocalo, on what was the Iztapalapa Causeway, near where Hernán Cortés and Moctezuma II met for the first time. This building used t ...

. The event, which included the inauguration of the bookstore number 24th of the Economic Culture Fund, which will bear its name in its memory, was held in the

, and was organized by the Ministry of Culture of the Federal District Government. Among others were: the president of the

, Rafael Tovar y de Teresa, the director of the Economic Culture Fund,

José Carreño Carlón José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernac ...

, the writer

Homero Aridjis Homero Aridjis (born April 6, 1940) is a Mexican poet, novelist, environmental activist, journalist and diplomat known for his rich imagination, poetry of lyrical beauty, and ethical independence. Family and early life Aridjis was born in Contepe ...

. * On December 20, 2018, it was announced that the home of Guillermo Tovar de Teresa would be the Guillermo Tovar de Teresa House in the street Valladolid 52, Colonia Roma Norte), a cultural site where the

is located, sponsored by the Slim Foundation.

Bibliography

Authorship

He published (some co-authored, but most individually) a total of 39 works in 44 volumes, including: * ''Pintura y escultura del Renacimiento en México (Painting and sculpture of the Renaissance in Mexico)'' (1979) * ''Noticias históricas de la Delegación Miguel Hidalgo (Historical news of the Miguel Hidalgo Delegation'' * ''México barroco (Baroque Mexico)'' (1981) * ''Apuntes y fotografías de México a mediados del siglo XIX – Álbum fotográfico mexicano – 1858– fotografías de Désiré Charnay (Notes and photographs of Mexico in the mid-19th century – Mexican photo album – 1858– photographs of Désiré Charnay published by Julio Michaud Publisher: Celanese mexicana)'' (1981) * ''Renacimiento en México: artistas y retablos (Renaissance in Mexico: artists and altarpieces)'' (1982) * ''La ciudad de México y la utopía en el siglo XVI (Mexico City and utopia in the 16th century)'' (1987) * ''El arte de los Lagarto, iluminadores novohispanos de los siglos XVI y XVII (The art of the Lagarto, New Spanish illuminators of the 16th and 17th centuries)'' (1988) * ''Bibliografía novohispana de arte (New Spanish bibliography of art)'' (two volumes, 1988) * ''Miguel Cabrera, pintor de cámara de la reina celestial (Miguel Cabrera, chamber painter of the celestial queen)'' (1985) * ''Gerónimo de Balbás en la Catedral de México (Gerónimo de Balbás in the Cathedral of Mexico)'' (1990) * ''Los escultores mestizos del Barroco novohispano (The mestizo sculptors of the New Spanish Baroque)'' (1991) * ''Pintura y escultura en Nueva España (Painting and sculpture in New Spain (1557–1640))'' (four volumes, 1992) * ''La ciudad de los palacios'' (The city of palaces) Publisher: Vuelta, (1990); prologue by Enrique Krauze * ''Arte novohispano (New Spanish art)'' (three volumes, 1992) * ''La utopía novohispana del siglo XVI: lo bello, lo verdadero y lo bueno (The 16th-century New Spanish utopia: the beautiful, the true and the good)'' (1992, in collaboration with Miguel León-Portilla and Silvio Zavala) * ''Repertorio de artistas en México: artes plásticas y decorativas (Directory of artists in Mexico: plastic and decorative arts'' (three volumes, 1995) * ''Cartas a

Mariano Otero Mariano Sabino Otero (August 29, 1844 – February 1, 1904) was a Congressional delegate from the Territory of New Mexico, nephew of Miguel Antonio Otero (I) and cousin of Miguel Antonio Otero (II). Born in Peralta, New Mexico, Otero att ...

: 1829–1845 (Letters to Mariano Otero: 1829–1845)'' (1996) * ''Catálogo de la colección de ex libris de Guillermo Tovar de Teresa (Collection catalog of ex libris by Guillermo Tovar de Teresa)'' (2002) * ''La ciudad de los palacios: crónica de un patrimonio perdido (The city of palaces: chronicle of a lost heritage)'' * ''La ciudad: un palimpsesto (The city: a palimpsest)'' (2004) * ''El Pegaso o el mundo barroco novohispano en el siglo XVII (The Pegasus or the baroque world of New Spain in the 17th century'' (1993, reissue 2006) * ''Crónica de una familia entre dos mundos: los

Ribadeneira Pedro de Ribadeneira S.J. ( Toledo, 1 November 1527 – Madrid, 10 September or 22 September 1611) was a Spanish hagiographer, Jesuit priest, companion of Ignatius of Loyola, and a Spanish Golden Age ascetic writer. Life Pedro was born at To ...

en México y España (Chronicle of a family between two worlds: the Ribadeneira in Mexico and Spain)'' (2009) * ''Diccionario de artistas del siglo XX (Dictionary of artists of the twentieth century)'' (the new edition, which would include artists born before 1955, was being prepared)

Editions of the Council of the Chronicle of Mexico City

* Coedition Council of the Chronicle of Mexico City –

–

– National Conservatory of Music of

facsimile A facsimile (from Latin ''fac simile'', "to make alike") is a copy or reproduction of an old book, manuscript, map, Old master print, art print, or other item of historical value that is as true to the original source as possible. It differs from ...

of '' Memories of Mexico'', piano scores composed by Luis Hahn with the original lithographys of the covers of the pieces. It includes a compact disc with the interpretation of the pieces (recording in

Sala Nezahualcóyotl Sala or SALA may refer to: Places Europe * Sala, the historical name of the river IJssel and home of the Salii Franks * Sala (Estonian island), one of the Uhtju islands * Sala Baganza, a municipality in Emilia-Romagna, Italy * Sala Bolognese, a ...

) by Silvia Navarrete. Introductory text "The lithographs of (M. C.) Rivera in the scores of Luis Hahn", by Guillermo Tovar and Teresa. Proem of María Teresa Franco. ''Memories of 'an appreciable pianist', or Mexico City seen from the piano'', by

Ricardo Miranda Ricardo Miranda (born August 22, 1976) is a Canadian politician and trade unionist who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in the 2015 Alberta general election representing the electoral district of Calgary-Cross. On February 2, ...

. Mexico. 2008.

Other collaborations

* Prologue of the book '' Luis G. Jordá. A Catalan musician in Porfirian Mexico'', by

Cristian Canton Ferrer Cristian Canton i Ferrer (born 1980, Tarrasa, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain) is a Catalan writer, musicologist and pianist. He is known for his contributions to the re-discovery of Catalan musicians and their legacies in America and the historica ...

(2011) * Text in the volume of photographs '' Mexico 1910–1921: an imaginary of the Mexican Revolution ''. Process. 2010. * Prologue of the book: Kahlo, G., and Greenwood Peabody, H. (2009). "Two views of the monumental architecture of Mexico." Mexico: Salinas Group. * "La portada principal de la primitiva Catedral de México" In ''Collection of studies in tribute to Mariano Fernández Daza, IX Marquis de la Encomienda''. Modesto Miguel Rangel Mayoral. Santa Ana de Almendralejo University Center, 2009. * Presentation of ''Manual de la gente bien'', by Guadalupe Loaeza (1995). * Compilation of ''Bordados y bordadores'', by

Virginia Armella de Aspe Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

(1992).

About Guillermo Tovar de Teresa

* Guzmán Urbiola, Xavier (2013). '' Guillermo Tovar de Teresa: biobibliographic sketch ''. Mexico: DGE / Equilibrista.

Unpublished

* ''History of Mexico''

External links

About the catalog of Guillermo Tovar de Teresa's collections (interview with Fernando Tovar y de Teresa) in Spanish

References

{{Authority control Mexican art historians Mexican philanthropists Historians of Mexico