José Manuel Puig Casauranc (31 January 1888 – 5 May 1939) was a Mexican politician, diplomat and journalist who served as

Secretary of Public Education In Mexico, the Secretariat of Public Education (Spanish language, in Spanish ''Secretaría de Educación Pública'', ''SEP'') is a federal government authority with Cabinet (government), cabinet representation and the responsibility for overseein ...

, Secretary of Industry, Commerce and Labor, Secretary of Foreign Affairs and federal legislator in both the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

and

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

. As a key adviser to President

Plutarco Elías Calles Plutarco Elías Calles (born Francisco Plutarco Elías Campuzano; 25 September 1877 – 19 October 1945) was a Mexican politician and military officer who served as the 47th President of Mexico from 1924 to 1928. After the assassination of Ál ...

(1924–28), he is credited with drafting Calles's speech to Congress following the assassination of President-elect Álvaro Obregón declaring the end of the age of caudillos and the start of rule of institutions and laws.

Life and career

He did his basic studies in the state of Veracruz and in 1911 he graduated as a medical doctor from the School of Medicine in Mexico City. He was also elected that year as a deputy to the congress, where he was a supporter of Francisco I. Madero. Following the coup of

Victoriano Huerta José Victoriano Huerta Márquez (; 23 December 1850 – 13 January 1916) was a Mexican general, politician, engineer and dictator who was the 39th President of Mexico, who came to power by coup against the democratically elected government of ...

ousting Madero in February 1913, Puig Casauranc refused to recognize Huerta's government, for which he was arrested. He remained exiled in the United States during part of the

Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution () was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from 20 November 1910 to 1 December 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It saw the destruction of the Federal Army, its ...

, until he returned to occupy a deputation in 1922. By then he is clearly identified with the political group of Sonoran generals turned politicians, Álvaro Obregón and

. He directed Calles's presidential campaign for the 1924 elections. Puig Casauranc was elected Senator for Campeche, but Calles appointed him as the head of the Ministry of Public Education. During the interim presidency of

Emilio Portes Gil Emilio Cándido Portes Gil (; 3 October 1890 – 10 December 1978) was a Mexican politician, lawyer and diplomat who served as the 48th President of Mexico from 1928 to 1930, one of three to serve out the six-year term of President-elect Gener ...

(1928-1930), he served as Head of the Department of the Federal District (1929–30), the jurisdiction of the national capital. Following the election of

Pascual Ortiz Rubio Pascual Ortiz Rubio (; 10 March 1877 – 4 November 1963) was a Mexican military officer, topographical engineer, diplomat and politician who served as the 49th President of Mexico from 1930 to 1932. He was one of three presidents to serve ou ...

as president, he appointed Puig Casauranc as Secretary of Education (1930–31) for a second term, and then Mexican Ambassador to the United States (1931–33). After Ortiz Rubio's resignation, President Abelardo L. Rodríguez appointed him Secretary of Foreign Affairs (1933–34).He was outspoken in this position. The "apogee of his public career was his confrontation with U.S. Secretary of State,

Cordell Hull Cordell Hull (October 2, 1871July 23, 1955) was an American politician from Tennessee and the longest-serving U.S. Secretary of State, holding the position for 11 years (1933–1944) in the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevel ...

, at the 1933 Pan-American Conference in Montevideo, Uruguay... critici

ing Ing, ING or ing may refer to: Art and media * '' ...ing'', a 2003 Korean film * i.n.g, a Taiwanese girl group * The Ing, a race of dark creatures in the 2004 video game '' Metroid Prime 2: Echoes'' * "Ing", the first song on The Roches' 199 ...

international bankers and U.S. dominance in the Mexican economy."John A. Britton "José Manuel Puig Casauranc" in ''Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture'', vol. 4, p. 500. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons 1996. In 1934 he refused to direct the presidential campaign 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 also turned down offers that Cárdenas himself made him to head a number of ministries. Instead he was appointed Ambassador to Argentina (1935–36). On his return to the country he retired from politics and devoted himself to practicing medicine and to contributing to newspapers such as ''El Imparcial'' and '' El Universal''. He was a corresponding member of the Mexican Academy of the Language.

Works

* ''De la vida (Cuentos crueles)'' (1922) * ''Páginas viejas con ideas actuales'' (1925) * ''De otros días'' (1926) * ''De nuestro México, cosas actuales y aspectos políticos'' (1926) * ''La hermana impura'' (1927) * ''Juárez, una interpretación humana'' (1928) * ''La cosecha y la siembra'' (1928) * ''La cuestión religiosa en relación con la educación primaria en México'' (1928) * ''Su venganza'' (1930) * ''Mirando la vida'' (1933) * ''Una política social económica de preparación socialista'' (1933) * ''El sentido social del proceso histórico de México'' (1935) * ''Los errores de Satanás'' (1937) * ''Galatea rebelde a varios Pigmaliones'' (1938)

Life and career

Works

Notes and references

Further reading