José Luis Martínez Rodríguez (b. 1918 in

Atoyac, Jalisco Atoyac Municipality is a municipality in the Mexican state of Jalisco. The administrative centre for the municipality is located in the town of Atoyac, Jalisco. Name Its name derives from the Nahuatl ''Atoya-k'', which means to "Place near the riv ...

; d. 2007, Mexico City) was a Mexican academic, diplomat, essayist, historian, bibliographer and editor. He was the director of the

Fondo de Cultura Económica Fondo de Cultura Económica (FCE or simply "Fondo") is a Spanish language, non-profit publishing group, partly funded by the Mexican government. It is based in Mexico but it has subsidiaries throughout the Spanish-speaking world. It was founded ...

from 1977 to 1982 and professor of literature with the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters at the

National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public university, public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countri ...

Career

He became an Academic Numerary of the

Academia Mexicana de la Lengua The Academia Mexicana de la Lengua (variously translated as the Mexican Academy of Language, the Mexican Academy of the Language, the Mexican Academy of Letters, or glossed as the Mexican Academy of the Spanish Language; acronym AML) is the cor ...

in 1960. From 1980 to 2002 he was the Director and, in 2003, was named Honorary Director in

perpetuity In finance, a perpetuity is an annuity that has no end, or a stream of cash payments that continues forever. There are few actual perpetuities in existence. For example, the United Kingdom (UK) government issued them in the past; these were kno ...

. He was also a numerary at the

Academia Mexicana de la Historia The Academia Mexicana de la Historia (''Mexican Academy of History'', also known by the acronym AMH), is a national academy in Mexico, which promotes history in Mexico. History While Antonio López de Santa Anna issued mandates to establish a Me ...

(Chair 28), beginning in 1993,Academia Mexicana de Historia:Past Members of the Academy
and a corresponding member of the

Academia Peruana de la Lengua The Academia Peruana de la Lengua (''Peruvian Academy of Language'') is an association of academics and experts on the use of the Spanish language in Peru. It was founded in Lima on May 5, 1887. Its first elected president was Francisco García Ca ...

and the

Academia Dominicana de la Lengua The Academia Dominicana de la Lengua (variously translated as the Dominican Academy of Language, the Dominican Academy of the Language, the Dominican Academy of Letters, or glossed as the Dominican Academy of the Spanish Language; acronym ADL) is ...

. From 1965 to 1970 he was Director general of the

Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes The Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura (INBAL, ), located in the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, is the Mexican institution in charge of coordinating artistic and cultural activities (both at the political and the educati ...

. In addition to his academic posts, he served as Mexico's representative at

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

for the year 1963-64 and was ambassador to Greece from 1971 to 1974. Among the many awards and honors he has received are the

National Prize for Arts and Sciences The National Prize for Arts and Sciences () is awarded annually by the Government of Mexico in six categories. It is part of the Mexican Honours System and was established in 1945 by President Manuel Ávila Camacho to promote the country's artistic ...

(''Premio Nacional de Ciencias y Artes'') for Literature and Linguistics, the Alfonso Reyes International Prize (''Premio Internacional Alfonso Reyes''), the

Menéndez Pelayo International Prize The Menéndez Pelayo International Prize has been awarded since 1987 by the Menéndez Pelayo International University (UIMP) with the objective of honoring those persons whose literary or scientific work has a humanistic orientation and application, ...

, the Spanish

Civil Order of Alfonso X, the Wise The Civil Order of Alfonso X the Wise () is a Spanish civil order established in 1939, recognising activities in the fields of education, science, culture, higher education and research. The order was created on 23 May 1902 by Royal decree as t ...

and the French

Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

.Academia Mexicana de Historia: Obituary
In 1967, he became a Commander of the

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic () is the most senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of Italy, President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking honour of the Republi ...

. His personal library was one of the largest in Mexico; it has been preserved in the

National Library A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public library, public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, ...

Director of the Fondo de Cultura Económica

During his leadership of the Fondo de Cultura Económica, over 700 new titles were published and he created the ''Revistas Literarias Mexicanas Modernas'' collection, which reprinted, in facsimile editions, the most important literary magazines published in Mexico during the first half of the twentieth century. He also worked on rebuilding the general catalog by reissuing 1,084 titles of continuing cultural significance.

Selected works

*''America Antigua: Nahua, Mayas, Quechuas, Otras Culturas'', (El Mundo Antiguo, VI), Secretaria de Educacion Publica (1976) *''El Trato con Escritores y Otros Estudios'', Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana (1992) *''La Expresión Nacional: Letras Mexicanas del Siglo XIX'', Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes (1993) *''La Literatura Mexicana del Siglo XX'', Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes (1995) *''Pasajeros de Indias, Viajes Transatlánticos en el Siglo XVI'', Alianza (1998) *''Bibliofilia. (Autobiográfico)'', FCE (2000) *''Cruzar el Atlántico'', FCE (2004) *''Nezahualcóyotl: Vida y Obra'', FCE (2006) *''Hernán Cortés'', FCE (2006)

Career

Director of the Fondo de Cultura Económica

Selected works

References

Further reading