''The Children of Sanchez'' is a

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

book by American

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 ...

Oscar Lewis Oscar Lewis, born Lefkowitz (December 25, 1914 – December 16, 1970) was an American anthropologist. He is best known for his vivid depictions of the lives of slum dwellers and his argument that a cross-generational culture of poverty transcends ...

about a

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

family living in the

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

slum of

Tepito Tepito is a barrio located in Colonia Morelos in the Cuauhtémoc borough of Mexico City bordered by Avenida del Trabajo, Paseo de la Reforma, Eje 1 and Eje 2. Most of the neighborhood is taken up by the colorful tianguis, a traditional open-air ...

, which he studied as part of his program to develop his concept of

culture of poverty The culture of poverty is a concept in social theory that asserts that the values of people experiencing poverty play a significant role in perpetuating their impoverished condition, sustaining a cycle of poverty across generations. It attracted ...

. The book is subtitled "Autobiography of a Mexican family". According to the dedication by the author in the opening pages of the book, the actual last name of the family is not "Sanchez", in order to maintain the privacy of the family members. Due to criticisms expressed by members of the family regarding the

Partido Revolucionario Institucional The Institutional Revolutionary Party ( es, Partido Revolucionario Institucional, ; abbr. PRI) is a political party in Mexico that was founded in 1929 and held uninterrupted power in the country for 71 years, from 1929 to 2000, first as the Nati ...

(PRI) government and Mexican presidents such as

Adolfo Ruiz Cortines Adolfo Tomás Ruiz Cortines (; 30 December 1889 – 3 December 1973) was a Mexican politician who served as President of Mexico from 1952 to 1958, after winning the disputed 1952 elections as the candidate of the ruling Institutional Revoluti ...

and

Adolfo López Mateos Adolfo López Mateos (; 26 May 1909 – 22 September 1969) was a Mexican politician who served as President of Mexico from 1958 to 1964. Beginning his political career as a campaign aide of José Vasconcelos during his run for president, Lóp ...

, and its being written by a foreigner, the book was banned in Mexico for a few years before pressure from literary figures resulted in its publication. The particular ethnographic reality that Lewis is focussing on in his book was the plight of the urban poor in a developing country. The political implications of this approach caused some concern when The Children of Sánchez was published in Mexico in Spanish in 1964. Formal charges were made against Lewis and the publisher by the Mexican Geographical and Statistical Society, accusing them of writing and publishing an obscene and denigrating book. The hearing of the case, the text of which was appended to the second Mexican edition by Joaquin Mortiz, resulted in the dismissal of the charges against Lewis and the publisher as unfounded. Jesús Sánchez, age fifty, is the father, and his four children are Manuel, age thirty-two; Roberto, twenty-nine; Consuelo, twenty-seven; and Marta, twenty-five. The content of the book itself consists of the life stories and accounts of these five people, as recorded in their own words by the author. Most of the interviews and the recorded events center around the Casa Grande Vecindad, a large one-story slum settlement, in the center of Mexico City. Elizabeth Hardwick described the result as "a moving, strange tragedy, not an interview, a questionnaire or a sociological study."

Film

A film based on the book and with the same title was directed by

Hall Bartlett Hall Bartlett (November 27, 1922 – September 7, 1993) was an American film producer, director, and screenwriter. Early life Hall Bartlett was born in Kansas City, Missouri, he graduated from Yale University Phi Beta Kappa, and was a Rhodes Sc ...

and was released in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

. It stars

Anthony Quinn Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca (April 21, 1915 – June 3, 2001), known professionally as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican-American actor. He was known for his portrayal of earthy, passionate characters "marked by a brutal and elemental v ...

as Jesús Sánchez.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Children of Sanchez, The 1961 non-fiction books Books about Mexico Biographies adapted into films Mexico City Random House books