María Elena Martínez-Lopez (2 December 1966, in Pascuales, Durango, Mexico – 16 November 2014, in Los Angeles CA) was a historian of colonial Mexico. Her landmark book, ''Genealogical Fictions: Limpieza de Sangre, Religion, and Gender in Colonial Mexico'' garnered significant academic recognition.

Life

Martínez was born in northern Mexico in 1966 and moved with her family to Chicago in the 1970s. She earned a B.A. at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

in 1988, and entered the doctoral program in History at

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, studying with

Friedrich Katz Friedrich Katz (13 June 1927 – 16 October 2010) was an Austrian-born anthropologist and historian who specialized in 19th and 20th century history of Latin America, particularly, in the Mexican Revolution. "He was arguably Mexico's most wide ...

. She taught at

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

until her death of adrenal cancer in 2014. While teaching at USC, she inaugurated the Colonial Latin America seminar at the USC-

Huntington Library The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, known as The Huntington, is a collections-based educational and research institution established by Henry E. Huntington (1850–1927) and Arabella Huntington (c.1851–1924) in San Mar ...

Early Modern Studies Institute. She gave large number of academic presentations, one of which at the

Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, California, Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Pa ...

was videotaped in May 2004. Martínez was lesbian and was the partner of academic Sarah Gualtieri for many years.

Honors

*Southern Historical Association, Latin American and Caribbean Section, article prize, 2004. "The Black Blood of New Spain: ''Limpieza de Sangre'', Racial Violence, and Gendered Power in Early Colonial Mexico,"

William and Mary Quarterly William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

vol. LXI (July 2004) *

Conference on Latin American History Conference on Latin American History, (CLAH), founded in 1926, is the professional organization of Latin American historians affiliated with the American Historical Association. It publishes the journal ''The Hispanic American Historical Review''. ...

Mexican History Prize for ''Genealogical Fictions''. (2009) *

American Historical Association The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world. Founded in 1884, the AHA works to protect academic freedom, develop professional s ...

, James A. Rawley Prize in Atlantic History for ''Genealogical Fictions''. (2009) *Conference on Latin American History prize in Colonial Latin American History renamed in her honor posthumously. The prize "is awarded annually for the book or article judged to be the most significant work on the history of Mexico published during the previous year."

References

External Sources

Guide to the Maria Elena Martinez Papers 1986-2015
at th
University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
1966 births 2014 deaths Northwestern University alumni University of Chicago alumni University of Southern California faculty Mexican emigrants to the United States Historians of Mexico American women historians 20th-century American historians 21st-century American historians {{Mexico-historian-stub