Juan Pío Pérez Bermón (1798–1859) was a
Mexican intellectual, philologist, researcher of
Maya culture
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, archi ...
and mayor of the city of
Mérida from 1848 to 1853. Pío Pérez studied
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 ...
in the
Yucatán Peninsula
The Yucatán Peninsula (, also , ; es, Península de Yucatán ) is a large peninsula in southeastern Mexico and adjacent portions of Belize and Guatemala. The peninsula extends towards the northeast, separating the Gulf of Mexico to the north ...
. His most significant contributions to the field was his ''Dictionary of the Mayan Language'' and interpretations of various fragments of the
Chilam Balam
The Books of Chilam Balam () are handwritten, chiefly 17th and 18th-centuries Maya civilization, Maya miscellanies, named after the small Yucatec towns where they were originally kept, and preserving important traditional knowledge in which indige ...
.
Life
Pío Pérez was born in 1798 and attended the
Colegio de San Ildefonso
The Colegio de San Ildefonso was an educational institution run by the Society of Jesus in Cebu City, Philippines in the then Spanish Captaincy General of the Philippines. It was established by the Jesuits in 1595 thus making it the first Europe ...
. He was from a
Maya-speaking family although they were of
Spanish descent. He worked as an interpreter for the New Spanish government before the
Mexican War of Independence
The Mexican War of Independence ( es, Guerra de Independencia de México, links=no, 16 September 1810 – 27 September 1821) was an armed conflict and political process resulting in Mexico's independence from Spain. It was not a single, co ...
. Pío Pérez worked many government positions throughout his life, including as mayor of the city of
Mérida. He died in 1859.
Contributions
While working as an authority for the government in Maní, Pío Pérez encountered 16th century records in the town archive. These and other archival materials he encountered were used for his interpretation of the Mayan calendar system.
After translating and interpreting many materials, Pío Pérez passed them along to
John Lloyd Stephens
John Lloyd Stephens (November 28, 1805October 13, 1852) was an American explorer, writer, and diplomat. Stephens was a pivotal figure in the rediscovery of Maya civilization throughout Middle America and in the planning of the Panama railroad.
...
. Stephens, an American explorer and travel writer, published sections of Pío Pérez's work in his ''Incidents of Travel in Yucatán'' from 1843.
Some collections of Pío Pérez's works are referred to as the “Codex Perez”
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pío Pérez, Juan
1798 births
1859 deaths
Mexican philologists