Manuel Suárez Y Suárez
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Manuel Suárez y Suárez (23 March 1896 – 23 July 1987) was a Spanish immigrant to Mexico who became a successful entrepreneur and patron of the arts. He is known for the
Casino de la Selva The Hotel Casino de la Selva (Jungle Casino Hotel) was a hotel and casino located in the city of Cuernavaca, Mexico. The main building was opened in 1931 as a hotel and casino, but from 1934 it was used only as a hotel. Additions in the late 1950 ...
in Cuernavaca, the
Hotel de México The Hotel de México was a planned hotel that would have been built in Mexico City, Mexico. Started by the entrepreneur Manuel Suárez y Suárez in 1966, had it been completed, it would have been the largest hotel in the Americas. The project ra ...
, and the adjacent
Polyforum Cultural Siqueiros The Polyforum Cultural Siqueiros is a cultural, political and social facility located in Mexico City as part of the World Trade Center Mexico City. It was designed and decorated by David Alfaro Siqueiros in the 1960s and hosts the largest mural w ...
.


Early years (1896–1919)

Manuel Suárez y Suárez was born on 23 March 1896 in Téifaros, from
Navia, Asturias Navia is a municipality in the Autonomous Community of the Principality of Asturias, Spain. It lies on the Cantabrian Sea, and is bordered by the municipalities of Villayón to the south, Valdés, Asturias, Valdés to the east, and Coaña to the ...
. He was the second son of a family of ten. His parents were cousins, Balbina Suárez Rodríguez of Téifaros and Manuel Suárez Fernández of Loredo, Villayón. They grew potatoes and grain, and had two cows and a donkey. He received a basic education in the village school, and acquired a love of books. Manuel's older brother Joaquin moved to Mexico to work on the dairy farm of his uncle Joaquín Rodríguez y García Loredo, but when he arrived found his uncle had died. Joaquin became a clerk at the wholesale grain merchant Casa Peral Alverde and saved up to fund Manuel's journey to Mexico. In the spring of 1911 at the age of 15 Manuel emigrated to Mexico. He was hired by the Casa Peral Alvede to travel through the north and center of Mexico buying crops. In May 1914 he was captured by the insurgents under
Pancho Villa Francisco "Pancho" Villa ( , , ; born José Doroteo Arango Arámbula; 5 June 1878 – 20 July 1923) was a Mexican revolutionary and prominent figure in the Mexican Revolution. He was a key figure in the revolutionary movement that forced ...
. He was almost shot, but then was made a lieutenant colonel and served on Villa's general staff for almost a year before being given leave to return to Mexico City. The Suárez brothers prospered and were able to bring their three younger brothers to join them. From 1918 to 1919 Manuel studied at the School of Commerce in
Gijón Gijón () or () is a city and municipality in north-western Spain. It is the largest city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality by population in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Asturias. It is located on the coa ...
.


Inter-war period (1919–1942)

In 1919 Manuel and Joachim Suárez left the Casa Peral Alverde and founded the La Mexicana grocery store in the La Merced neighborhood of Mexico City. In 1923 Manuel left this business and founded a building supply company named Eureka in partnership with the son of
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 ...
, the future President of Mexico. He later became the sole owner of this business. He undertook contracts to build infrastructure for the states' improvemement boards (''Juntas De Mejoras''). Part of his fortune came from buying land at low cost in places such as
Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , ; ), is a city and Port of Acapulco, major seaport in the Political divisions of Mexico, state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Located on a deep, semicirc ...
, Nogales,
Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...
, Manzanillo,
Tijuana Tijuana is the most populous city of the Mexican state of Baja California, located on the northwestern Pacific Coast of Mexico. Tijuana is the municipal seat of the Tijuana Municipality, the hub of the Tijuana metropolitan area and the most popu ...
, Laredo and
Ciudad Juarez Ciudad () is the Spanish word for "city". Ciudad or La Ciudad may also refer to: * La Ciudad (archaeological site), Hohokam ruins in Phoenix, Arizona * La Ciudad, district of Durango City, Mexico * ''La ciudad'', a novel by Mario Levrero published ...
that he later sold after these communities started to develop. The first constitutional governor of
Morelos Morelos, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Morelos, is a landlocked state located in south-central Mexico. It is one of the 32 states which comprise the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Mun ...
state, Vicente Estrada Cajigal( es), authorized construction of a casino complex in Cuernavaca by the Compañía Hispanoamericana de Hoteles. This was a consortium of Mexican businessmen backed by President
Abelardo L. Rodríguez Abelardo Rodríguez Luján, commonly known as Abelardo L. Rodríguez (; 12 May 1889 – 13 February 1967) was a Mexican military officer, businessman and politician who served as Substitute President of Mexico from 1932 to 1934. He completed th ...
. Suárez was the building contractor. The Casino de la Selva was inaugurated in 1931 near the train station. It was briefly the most luxurious watering spot in the Americas until the Garci-Crespo Hotel opened in
Tehuacán Tehuacán () is the second largest city in the Mexican state of Puebla, nestled in the southeast of the valley of Tehuacán, bordering the states of Oaxaca and Veracruz. The 2010 census reported a population of 248,716 in the city and 274,906 i ...
in 1934. However, the owners were unable to pay their debts to the state or to the builders. Suárez was the main creditor and acquired the property in 1934. That year the new president
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 ...
took office. One of his first decrees banned gambling in Mexico since he saw casinos as centers of vice. Suárez retained the property but ran it purely as a hotel. Suárez and the Valencian architect
Jesús Martí Martín Jesús Martí Martín (1899–1975) was a Spanish architect and painter. His first love was painting, but he trained as an architect and was successful in this profession in Madrid in the years before the Spanish Civil War. During the civil war h ...
founded the company Vías y Obras (Roads and Works), which built facilities in the ports of
Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...
,
Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , ; ), is a city and Port of Acapulco, major seaport in the Political divisions of Mexico, state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Located on a deep, semicirc ...
and other cities. In 1936 Suárez bought the Hotel Mocambo in Veracruz. That year he went to Italy to buy machinery for Eureka. He had trouble with the authorities of the
Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his overthrow in 194 ...
regime, who seized a cross of diamonds and pearls he had bought for one of his daughters, and from then on was opposed to Italian Fascism. However, he supported General
Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...
with supplies during the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
. Between 1936 and 1941 he invested in sugar mills in
Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into Municipalities of Sonora, 72 ...
,
Oaxaca Oaxaca, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of the Mexico, United Mexican States. It is divided into municipalities of Oaxaca, 570 munici ...
,
Tepic Tepic () is the capital and largest city of the western Mexico, Mexican Political divisions of Mexico, state of Nayarit, as well as the seat of the Tepic Municipality. Located in the central part of the state, it stands at an altitude of above ...
and
Sinaloa Sinaloa (), officially the (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 18 municipalities, and its capital city is Culiacán Rosales. It is located in northwest Mexic ...
.


Years of prosperity (1942–1966)

During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
(1939–1945) Mexico declared war on the Axis in 1942. Suárez helped develop the system of replacing imports by local production. He said later that President
Manuel Ávila Camacho Manuel Ávila Camacho (; 24 April 1897 – 13 October 1955) was a Mexican politician and military leader who served as the president of Mexico from 1940 to 1946. Despite participating in the Mexican Revolution and achieving a high rank, he cam ...
(1940–1946) offered to make him Minister of the Economy three times, but he refused on the basis that business should be separate from politics. Suárez was also a close friend of President
Miguel Alemán Valdés Miguel Alemán Valdés (; 29 September 1900 – 14 May 1983) was a Mexican politician who served a full term as the President of Mexico from 1946 to 1952, the first civilian president after a string of revolutionary generals. His administ ...
(1946–52), who promoted development of tourism. He loved art, and promoted the career of contemporary artists such as
Dr. Atl Gerardo Murillo Coronado, also known by his signature "Dr. Atl" (October 3, 1875 – August 15, 1964), was a Mexican painter, writer and intellectual. He is most famous for his works inspired by the Mexican landscape, particularly volcanoes, an ...
(Gerardo Murillo),
David Alfaro Siqueiros David Alfaro Siqueiros (born José de Jesús Alfaro Siqueiros; December 29, 1896 – January 6, 1974) was a Mexican social realist painter, best known for his large public murals using the latest in equipment, materials and technique. Along with ...
,
Jorge González Camarena Jorge González Camarena (24 March 1908 – 24 May 1980) was a Mexican painter, muralist and sculptor. He is best known for his mural work, as part of the Mexican muralism movement, although his work is distinct from the main names associat ...
,
José Reyes Meza José Reyes Meza (November 23, 1924 – October 31, 2011) was a Mexican painter, costume and set designer, who helped to found a number of cultural institutions in Mexico. Reyes Meza began his artistic career principally in theater, although he ...
,
Francisco Icaza Francisco Icaza (5 October 1930 – 3 May 2014) was a Mexican artist best known for his drawings about his travels and his oil paintings. He spent much of his life living in and visiting various countries around the world. He began painting as ...
and
Josep Renau Josep Renau Berenguer (17 May 1907 — 11 November 1982) was an artist and communist revolutionary, notable for his propaganda work during the Spanish Civil War. Among his production, he is remarkable for his art deco period, his political pro ...
. Suárez wanted the Casino de la Selva to be a gathering place for intellectuals and artists, and commissioned various works of art for the walls and gardens. He hired Mexican and Spanish artists such as José Reyes Meza and Josep Renau to decorate the walls with murals showing Mexican history from the pre-Columbian period to the modern age. The murals would cover an area of . The hotel became the center of cultural activity in Cuernavaca and was visited by artists, writers and political activists. At the end of the 1950s the construction company of the brothers Félix, Antonio and Julia Candela built a dining room attached to an auditorium at the Casino de la Selva, and a non-denominational chapel in place of the fountain at the entrance, all with shell roofs.
Félix Candela Félix Candela Outeriño (; January 27, 1910 – December 7, 1997) was a Spanish and Mexican architect who was born in Madrid and at the age of 26, emigrated to Mexico, acquiring double nationality. He is known for his significant ...
's pupil, the architect Juan Antonio Tonda( fr), designed the shells and about 30 bungalows in the south of the site and oversaw construction. Later the chapel was converted to a nightclub, the Club Jano, and then the Discoteca Mambo. The dining room, the ''Salón de los Relojes'' (Salon of the Clocks), had a roof formed of five paraboloid sections with a large clock hanging from the central point where the arcs intersected showing the times of places around the world. The auditorium, reached via the ''Salón de los Relojes'', had a single hyperbolic paraboloid roof and contained the mural ''La farándula'' (Showbiz) by the Mexican artist
Francisco Icaza Francisco Icaza (5 October 1930 – 3 May 2014) was a Mexican artist best known for his drawings about his travels and his oil paintings. He spent much of his life living in and visiting various countries around the world. He began painting as ...
, a tribute to the German playwright
Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...
.


Last years (1966–1987)

Suárez opened three restaurants in Mexico City, and in 1966 embarked on building the Gran Hotel de México (now the
World Trade Center World Trade Centers are the hundreds of sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may also refer to: Buildings * World Trade Center (1973–2001), a building complex that was destroyed during the September 11 at ...
). Suarez conceived the idea of building a major business and tourist complex named Mexico 2000, centered around the huge Hotel de México. From the 1970s until his death he put most of his energy into the project, which grew out of control. The hotel was to be the largest in the Americas, high with 1,500 rooms. It was to be 51 stories high with 1,508 hexagonal rooms that could house 3,100 guests. A panoramic elevator would be able to carry 100 tourists, and 19 other elevators for normal passengers, and there would be one covered and one open air panoramic terrace. A heliport would be equipped with customs. There would be four cafeterias and six restaurants, with a revolving restaurant on the top floor, five reception halls, a 3000-person convention room, a spiral-shaped shopping mall, a theatre, museum and so on. The building was unfinished when Suarez died, and remained an unfinished skeleton for many years. The
Polyforum Cultural Siqueiros The Polyforum Cultural Siqueiros is a cultural, political and social facility located in Mexico City as part of the World Trade Center Mexico City. It was designed and decorated by David Alfaro Siqueiros in the 1960s and hosts the largest mural w ...
was built in the grounds of the hotel, with murals by the painter
David Alfaro Siqueiros David Alfaro Siqueiros (born José de Jesús Alfaro Siqueiros; December 29, 1896 – January 6, 1974) was a Mexican social realist painter, best known for his large public murals using the latest in equipment, materials and technique. Along with ...
. It was started early in the 1970s and completed before Siqueiros died in 1974. The building's exterior is a
dodecahedron In geometry, a dodecahedron (; ) or duodecahedron is any polyhedron with twelve flat faces. The most familiar dodecahedron is the regular dodecahedron with regular pentagons as faces, which is a Platonic solid. There are also three Kepler–Po ...
, while the interior is an octagon. It was built by the architects
Guillermo Rossell de la Lama Guillermo Rossell de la Lama (22 July 1925 – 6 September 2010) was a Mexican politician affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). He served as the Secretary of Tourism from 1976 to 1980 and as Governor of Hidalgo from 1 Apr ...
, Ramón Miquela Jáuregui and Joaquín Álvarez Ordonéz. Suárez built a workshop for Siqueiros in Cuernavaca, La Tallera, to help him work as efficiently as possible. The Polyforum has twelve huge exterior panels holding murals by Siqueros that depict the March of Humanity, showing the evolution from the past to the present and giving a view of the future. Most of the other surfaces of the building were also painted by Siqueros, making the building's exterior the largest mural in the world. The exterior mural covers over and depicts the march of humanity on Earth towards the Cosmos. The interior depicts the march of humanity in Latin America. Most of the murals of the Polyforum were taken from drawings that Siqueros made while in prison for his revolutionary opinions in 1960–1964.


Death and legacy

Don Manuel Suárez died in
Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...
in 1987 at the age of 91. He was buried in the pantheon of Santa Cruz del Pedregal. Suárez amassed a collection of around 4,000 paintings. The Museo Mural Diego Rivera holds 50 pieces from his huge collection. He married twice and had twenty children: Manuel, Sergio, José, Jorge, Miguel Angel, Carlos, Lilia, Raquel, Silvia, Marisol, Margarita, Maricarmen, Concepción, Alfredo, Marcos, Manuel, Angélica, Beatriz, Ernesto and Fernando. In August 1987 it was reported that Hyatt would lend $30 million to the Suárez Group to complete the first 400 rooms on the ten highest levels of his hotel for what would now be called the Hotel de México Hyatt. Eventually the Hotel de México was converted into the World Trade Center, an office building, in 1995. In July 2005 the World Trade Center was sold at auction for $58 million by the government's Fondo Bancario de Protección al Ahorro (
Fobaproa Fobaproa (''Fondo Bancario de Protección al Ahorro''; "Savings Protection Banking Fund", in Spanish) was a contingencies fund created in 1990 joto by the Mexican government, led by then dominant Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) to attempt ...
). The Casino de la Selva was demolished in the fall of 2002 and replaced by two large box stores.


Notes


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Suárez, Manuel Suárez y 1896 births 1987 deaths Spanish emigrants to Mexico 20th-century Mexican businesspeople Recipients of the Civil Order of Alfonso X, the Wise