Adrián Recinos (1886–1962) was a Guatemalan historian, essayist,

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 and translator, and diplomat. Recinos was a student of national history, especially the

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 ...

and the ancient history of the

K'iche' K'iche', K'ichee', or Quiché may refer to: *K'iche' people of Guatemala, a subgroup of the Maya *K'iche' language, a Maya language spoken by the K'iche' people **Classical K'iche' language, the 16th century form of the K'iche' language *Kʼicheʼ ...

and

Kaqchikel people The Kaqchikel (also called Kachiquel) are one of the indigenous Maya peoples of the midwestern highlands in Guatemala. They constitute Guatemala's third largest Maya group. The name was formerly spelled in various other ways, including Cakchiquel ...

. He published the first Spanish edition of

Popol Vuh ''Popol Vuh'' (also ''Popol Wuj'' or ''Popul Vuh'' or ''Pop Vuj'') is a text recounting the mythology and history of the Kʼicheʼ people, one of the Maya peoples, who inhabit Guatemala and the Mexican states of Chiapas, Campeche, Yucatan and Q ...

, based on his translation of the manuscript found in the

Newberry Library The Newberry Library is an independent research library, specializing in the humanities and located on Washington Square in Chicago, Illinois. It has been free and open to the public since 1887. Its collections encompass a variety of topics rela ...

, Chicago. He also published his translations of other ancient Mayan manuscripts, including the ''

Anales de los Cakchiqueles The ''Annals of the Cakchiquels'' (in es, Anales de los Cakchiqueles, also known by the alternative Spanish titles, ''Anales de los Xahil'', ''Memorial de Tecpán-Atitlán'' or ''Memorial de Sololá'') is a manuscript written in Kaqchikel by Fra ...

''.

Biography

Adrián Recinos was born on July 5, 1886, in

Antigua Guatemala Antigua Guatemala (), commonly known as Antigua or La Antigua, is a city in the central highlands of Guatemala. The city was the capital of the Captaincy General of Guatemala from 1543 through 1773, with much of its Baroque-influenced architec ...

, as the son of Teodoro M. Recinos and Rafaela Ávila de Recinos. He married María Palomo and had five children, Beatrice, Isabel, Mary, Adrian Jr., and Laura. All four of his daughters would remain in Guatemala for the majority of their lives, and Adrian Jr. would attend

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, and later became an

M.D. Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. T ...

in the U.S. while residing in

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

Recinos obtained his bachelor's degree of Sciences and Letters in 1902, and graduated from the School of Law in Guatemala in 1907. He pursued a public career as a diplomat and was Secretary of Legation in El Salvador (1908), Under-Secretary of State (1910–1920), Minister of Foreign Affairs (1922–1923), Ambassador to France, Spain, and Italy (1923–1925), President of the Legislative Assembly (1926), and Ambassador to the USA (1928–1943). In 1944 he ran as a candidate to the Presidency of the Republic, but lost the elections to

Juan José Arévalo Juan José Arévalo Bermejo (10 September 1904 – 8 October 1990) was a Guatemalan professor of philosophy who became Guatemala's first democratically elected president in 1945. He was elected following a popular uprising against the United ...

. He died in 1962.

Legacy

Recinos had a passion for Guatemalan history and was a founding member of the ''Sociedad de Geografía e Historia de Guatemala'', currently known as ''Academia de Geografía e Historia de Guatemala''. He was also a member of the ''Sociedad de Geografía y Estadística'' (Mexico), ''Sociedad Histórica Americana'' (Buenos Aires), ''Instituto Iberico-Americano de Derecho Comparado'' (Madrid), amongst others. Adrián Recinos received national and international recognition for his publications on Guatemala's history and his translations of ancient Mayan manuscripts.

Published works

* ''Indigenous chronicles of Guatemala'' * ''The City of Guatemala'' (historical description from its foundation to 1917-1918 earthquakes) * ''Monographs of the Department of Huehuetenango''

Original Spanish language editions

* * * * * * * * * *

Notes

References

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Recinos, Adrian Foreign ministers of Guatemala Guatemalan diplomats Guatemalan essayists Guatemalan male writers Male essayists 20th-century Guatemalan historians Guatemalan Mesoamericanists Guatemalan translators Mayanists 1886 births 1962 deaths 20th-century Mesoamericanists Historians of Mesoamerica Members of the Congress of Guatemala Ambassadors of Guatemala to the United States Ambassadors of Guatemala to Spain Ambassadors of Guatemala to Italy Ambassadors of Guatemala to France People from Sacatepéquez Department 20th-century translators 20th-century essayists 20th-century male writers