Antonio Diaz Soto y Gama (23 January 1880 – 14 March 1967) was a Mexican politician and revolutionary during the Mexican Revolution.

Biography

He was born in San Luis Potosí to Conrado Díaz Soto y Gama and Concepción Cruz. He studied in San Luis Potosí, first at the Instituto de la Immaculada Concepción and later at the Instituto Literario. During the early 1900s he was associated with

Ricardo Flores Magón Cipriano Ricardo Flores Magón (; known as Ricardo Flores Magón; September 16, 1874 – November 21, 1922) was a Mexican anarchist and social reform activist. His brothers Enrique Flores Magón, Enrique and Jesús Flores Magón, Jesús were ...

's anarchist Mexican Liberal Party, which was involved in strikes and uprisings in Mexico from 1906 to 1911. He was also active with the Magon brothers' newspaper '' El Hijo del Ahuizote''. In August 1911, together with Magón he helped co-found the successor party, "Liberal Party" (''Partido Liberal'').John Lear, "Workers, neighbors, and citizens: the revolution in Mexico City", U of Nebraska Press, 2001, pg. 158

/ref> He was also the secretary and vice president of the ''Liberal Club " Ponciano Arriaga"'' (named after the 19th century lawyer) and was imprisoned by the regime of

Porfirio Díaz José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori (; ; 15 September 1830 – 2 July 1915) was a General (Mexico), Mexican general and politician who was the dictator of Mexico from 1876 until Mexican Revolution, his overthrow in 1911 seizing power in a Plan ...

for his activities, and later forced into

exile Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. While there he published a liberal newspaper in El Paso, ''Social Reform'' with an editorial agenda which opposed the Diaz dictatorship. La Constitucion ha muerto 1903

During the presidency of Francisco I. Madero, Díaz Soto y Gama helped found the Casa del Obrero Mundial (House of the World Worker) in Mexico City. After Victoriano Huerta ousted Madero in February 1913, Díaz Soto y Gama joined the movement of Emiliano Zapata.Brunk, ''The Posthumous Career of Emiliano Zapata'', p. 65. He played a prominent role at the Convention of Aguascalientes in 1914, following the victory of Huerta. During the convention Soto y Gama's speech and disrespect for the Mexican flag, which he said symbolized the "triumph of clerical reaction", caused a protest from some of the participants, many of whom threatened him by pointing their guns at him.Thomas Benjamin, "La Revolución: Mexico's great revolution as memory, myth, & history", University of Texas Press, 2000, pg. 5

/ref> However, his presence at the convention contributed greatly to the adoption of the ''Zapatista'' Plan of Ayala. Since Zapata's backing came mostly from rural '' campesinos'', Soto y Gama also served as his representative to urban workers, including the anarcho-syndicalist union '' Casa del Obrero Mundial''. In 1917 he came into conflict with another ''Zapatista'' chief, Otilio Montaño Sánchez and played a role in having Otilio executed.Peter Newell, "Zapata of Mexico", Black Rose Books Ltd., 1997, pg. 138
/ref> After Zapata's murder in 1919, Soto y Gama continued to advise Zapata's successor, Gildardo Magaña and eventually joined the movement of Alvaro Obregon (whom Antonio called "the executor of the ideas of Emiliano Zapata") in opposition to Venustiano Carranza. Although President Obregón had asked him to serve in his cabinet as Minister of Agriculture, Díaz Soto y Gama declined. After the revolution he was a member of the Mexican Chamber of Deputies in the Mexican Congress.Thomas Benjamin, "La Revolución: Mexico's great revolution as memory, myth, & history", University of Texas Press, 2000, pg. 7

/ref> He was the leader of the National Agrarian Party (''Partido Nacional Agrarista'', PNA), which he founded on 13 June 1920.Leslie Bethell, Cambridge History of Latin America, Cambridge University Press, 1986, pg. 159

/ref> The platform of the party called for redistribution of land to peasants. As a representative of the party he served four terms in the Mexico, Mexican congress between 1920 and 1928. During the presidency of

Lázaro Cárdenas Lázaro Cárdenas del Río (; 21 May 1895 – 19 October 1970) was a Mexican army officer and politician who served as president of Mexico from 1934 to 1940. Previously, he served as a general in the Constitutional Army during the Mexican Revo ...

he served in the Ministry of Agriculture. In the late 1930s Antonio received a chair in

History History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

and

Agricultural Law Agricultural law, sometimes referred to as Ag Law, deals with such legal issues as agricultural cooperatives, seed, water, fertilizer, pesticide use, agricultural finance, agricultural labour, agricultural marketing, agricultural insurance, far ...

at the University of Mexico and also worked as a newspaper columnist. He died in Mexico City in March 1967, one of the few major figures of the Mexican Revolution to have died a natural death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soto y Gama, Antonio Diaz Mexican revolutionaries 1880 births 1967 deaths Zapatistas Magonists Mexican anarchists Mexican agrarianists