José Vasconcelos | Notable Biographies

(1882/02/28 - 1959/06/30)

José Vasconcelos
Mexican politician

He was born on February 28, 1882 in Oaxaca (Mexico).
He was a disciple of Justo Sierra and formed part of the Ateneo de la Juventud, which confronted the positivism and the dictator Porfirio Díaz, promoting a critical current around 1910 and ideological and political renewal.
In aesthetics, he exhibited his theory on the evolution of the universe and the restructuring of their cosmic substance, in physical, biological and human aspects. Committed to the revolutionary movement, he supported Francisco i. Madero in the Party Imhiez and later Presidents Venustiano Carranza and Álvaro Obregón. Apparently, Vasconcelos was who drafted the maderista slogan: "effective suffrage not re-election "".
He served as rector of the National University, which became a revolutionary institution. In 1921 he was appointed by President Obregón Secretary of education for three years, until his confrontation with him and his subsequent exile in United States, carried out 'a true national crusade' in favour of popular education. It did everything possible to foster indigenous education, the rural, the technique and the urban; It created networks of libraries, cultural missions, normal schools and town houses, which became basic education centres. It supported the work of the early muralists and built the National Stadium as a place of popular shows.
In 1925 he published the cosmic race, work which sets out some of his reflections on the indigeneity.
In 1929, he returned to his country as a leader of a political movement supported by the masses who faced the dominant callismo. He failed his attempt to gain the Presidency by what returned to his personal retreat. His philosophical work is claimed emotional intuition, opposed to all forms of intellectualism and which situated at the base of his metaphysical system (Treaty of metaphysics, 1929). Among his works are: Ulises Criollo (1935), storm (1936), the disaster (1938), and brief history of Mexico (1937).
José Vasconcelos died on June 30, 1959 in the City of Mexico.