ALFONSO REYES OCHOA: BIOGRAPHY, STYLE, WORKS, AWARDS, PHRASES - LITERATURE - 2024

Alfonso Reyes Ochoa (1889-1959) was a Mexican writer, poet, essayist, and diplomat. His life was dedicated both to letters and to the dissemination of culture and knowledge, through his interest in the creation of organizations and institutions.

Reyes' work was abundant and prolific. It spanned several literary genres, among which poetry, theater, narrative and essays stand out. It was characterized by the cultured and expressive, also by the approach it gave to the issues related to ancient Greece.

Alfonso Reyes Ochoa. Source: sinaloaarchivohistorico, via Wikimedia Commons

Some of the most important titles of Kings were: Vision of Anáhuac, Nine deaf romances, Cruel Iphigenia, Sympathies and differences and Gunpowder tree. The writer also served Mexican diplomacy, in countries like Brazil, Spain and Argentina.

Biography

Birth and family

Alfonso Reyes Ochoca was born on May 17, 1889, in Monterrey. He came from a cultured family, linked to politics and in a good economic position. His parents were: Bernardo Reyes Ogazón, military and politician, and Aurelia de Ochoa-Garibay y Sapién. The writer and poet Alfonso Reyes had eleven siblings.

It is important to highlight that the father of the writer, in his military role, participated in the intervention that the French made to Mexico in the 19th century. Bernardo Reyes Ogazón, as a politician, served as governor of Nuevo León for more than two decades, and also held positions as a war official.

Kings Education

Alfonso Reyes received a very good education from an early age, and also showed his interest in learning and letters. Several institutions were part of his teaching in Monterrey, such as the Civil College, and he also studied at the French Lyceum of Mexico.

After passing through the previous institutions, he studied high school at the National Preparatory School. Upon graduation, she entered the old National School of Jurisprudence of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) to study law.

National Preparatory School, place of studies of Alfonso Reyes. Source: UNAM, via Wikimedia Commons

At that time, in 1909, he created, together with a large group of young enthusiasts, the well-known Athenaeum of Youth.

Reyes and the Athenaeum of Youth

The initiative of Alfonso Reyes and his intellectual friends to found the Youth Athenaeum had the objective of modernizing Mexico from a cultural point of view, through different dissemination and promotion activities. Among the young people who accompanied him, José Vasconcelos and Pedro Henríquez Ureña stood out.

The members also held gatherings to read and discuss the classics of literature, especially Greek authors and works. The young "Atheneists" contributed new and good ideas to achieve a true cultural and artistic change during the government of Porfirio Díaz.

Alfonso Reyes and the Mexican Revolution

The ties that Alfonso Reyes' family had with the dictator Porfirio Díaz did not favor him when the Mexican Revolution arose in 1910. Fear formed, at least for a time, in the life of the writer, who used to protect himself with a revolver inside his room, where he was kept locked up most of the time.

Reyes was still a university student when, in 1912, he served as an official of the faculty of philosophy and letters of the National Autonomous University of Mexico. A year later he graduated as a lawyer, specifically on July 16, 1913.

Trip to paris

In 1913 Reyes suffered the loss of his father, after being assassinated during the military coup known as Decena Tragica, against President Francisco Madero. As a result of this tragedy, the poet made the decision to go to Paris to recover from the pain. Despite everything, he managed to be part of Mexican diplomacy.

Life in spain

After having been in Paris, and having published Aesthetic Questions in 1914, Reyes went to live in Spain due to the outbreak of the First World War. He lived there for a decade, which he took advantage of to develop his literary work and his research and documentation works.

Alfonso Reyes made friends with important Spanish writers of that time, such as José Ortega y Gasset and Juan Ramón Jiménez, to name a few. His publications were of those years: Footprints, The suicide, Real and imaginary portraits, Calendar and The oblique plane.

Alfonso Reyes as a diplomat

Despite some difficulties that Alfonso Reyes went through in Spain, he was able to get ahead, and managed to make a name for himself through his literary work. His fame reached his native country, so the Mexican government made him part of foreign diplomacy, starting in 1920.

Signature of Alfonso Reyes in a letter addressed to Luis I. Rodríguez, private secretary of the President of the Republic. Source: Correogsk, via Wikimedia Commons

He began as the representative of Mexico in Spain. Later, for two years, between 1922 and 1924, he was in charge of business in the "Motherland." In 1924 he went to France, where he served as minister until 1927; later, between 1927 and 1938, he was ambassador to Argentina and Brazil.

Admirer and admired

Reyes was a man who aroused admiration among his colleagues for the quality of his work. Such was the case of the Argentine Jorge Luís Borges. When they met in Buenos Aires, Borges applauded the elegance and depth of his literary work, and also classified him as "the best prose writer."

On the other hand, the Mexican writer felt respect and admiration for various intellectuals. However, the one who marked him the most was the Franco-Argentine author and historian, Paul Groussac, whom he praised for his ability to write. He also said of him often: "he taught me to write."

Personal life

Data on the personal life of the Mexican writer are scarce. However, it is known that he married a woman named Manuela Mota Gómez, with whom he had his only son named Alfonso Bernardo Reyes Mota.

Unstoppable literary production

Reyes was a writer dedicated to his work, which did not stop even in the years when he served as a diplomat. Some of the titles that he published between 1925 and 1939 were: Pausa, Gongorian Questions, La saeta, Otra voz, Infancia, Mallarmé entre nosotros and La casa del grillo.

Last years of life and death

Alfonso Reyes spent his last years dedicated to the production of his novels, poetry, and his extensive essay work. He also dedicated himself to promoting the history and culture of Mexico, through knowledge and cultural and artistic activities.

Sepulcher of Alfonso Reyes. Source: Thelmadatter, via Wikimedia Commons

Some works from those years were: Panorama of Greek religion, Anchors, Nine deaf romances, Marginalia and Hellenistic philosophy. Reyes passed away on December 27, 1959, of heart disease, in his native Mexico. His remains rest in the Rotunda of Illustrious Persons.

Style

The literary style of Alfonso Reyes was characterized by the use of a cultured language, well elaborated, precise and at the same time expressive. In his works it was common to observe a wide variety of words and terms, as well as some archaisms or ancient words.

In Reyes' literary work there was truth, reality and fantasy, in stories narrated at times with a certain humor and ironic tone. The theme developed by the author was focused on his interest in Greek literature, as well as the historical and cultural origin of Mexico.

Complete works

Portrait of Alfonso Reyes, by David Alfaro Siqueiros, dating from 1960, the painting is the property of El Colegio Nacional, Mexico Source: Eduardo Ruiz Mondragón, via Wikimedia Commons

The literary work of Alfonso Reyes is abundant, especially in the genres of poetry and essays. This was because the writer was intensely passionate about letters. The creativity, ingenuity, intelligence and expressiveness of his work has been around for many years.

Narrative

"First series" (1939).

"Second series" (1945).

"First series, 1946-1951" (1952).

"Second series, 1909-1954" (1954).

"Third series, 1940-1959" (1959).

Volume II:

Volume III:

Volume IV:

Volume V:

Volume VI:

- Chapters of Spanish literature. First and second series.

"Tertulia de Madrid".

"Four mills".

"Traces of literary history".

"Medallions".

"Ruíz de Alarcón and the French theater".

Volume VII:

Volume VIII:

- Transit of Amado Nervo.

"By return mail".

"I vote for the Universidad del Norte."

Volume IX:

Volume X:

"Poetic review: Footprints, Pause, 5 almost sonnets, Another voice, Some poems, Romances and related, La vega y el soto, Poetic work."

"Courtesy".

"Cruel Iphigenia."

"Three poems".

"Day in sonnets".

"Deaf romances."

Volume XI:

Volume XII:

Volume XIII:

Volume XIV:

Volume XV:

Volume XVI:

- Greek religion.

Volume XVII:

Volume XVIII:

Volume XIX:

Volume XX:

Volume XXI:

Volume XXII:

Volume XXIII:

"Life and fiction."

"Fifteen presences."

"Literary jokes."

"Gunpowder tree".

"Ana".

"Wisps".

Eclogue of the blind.

"Landrú-operetta".

"The three treasures."

"The licentious."

Volume XXIV:

- Prayer of February 9.

Volume XXV:

Volume XXVI:

Awards

The work of Alfonso Reyes, both literary and in favor of the promotion and dissemination of culture, made him worthy of several recognitions and awards. He even participated in the creation and founding of various institutions, such as the Colegio de México.

Some of the awards and recognitions he received were:

- Member of the Mexican Academy of the Language from April 19, 1940. He presided over chair number XVII.

- National Prize of Sciences and Arts, in the field of Literature and Linguistics, in 1945, for his work The Critique of the Athenian Age.

- Director of the Mexican Academy of Language from 1957 to 1959.

- Doctor Honoris Causa from Princeton University in 1950.

- Manuel Ávila Camacho Prize for Literature in 1953.

- Prize of the Mexican Book Institute in 1954.

- Doctor Honoris Causa from the Sorbonne University in 1958.

- Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of California (Berkeley) in 1958.

Phrases

- “Peace is the highest moral ideal. But peace, like democracy, can only bear its full fruit where it is respected and loved ”.

- "When a hand reaches out to ask me for something, I think that that hand may be, tomorrow, the one that offers me a glass of water in the middle of the desert."

- "The art of expression did not appear to me as a rhetorical craft, independent of conduct, but as a means to fully realize the human sense."

- "Good is an ideal of justice and virtue that can impose on us the sacrifice of our desires, and even of our happiness or of our life."

- “There is no person without society. There is no society without people ”.

- "Respect for the homeland is accompanied by that feeling that we all carry in our hearts and is called patriotism: love for our country, desire to improve it, confidence in its future destinies."

- "The subsistence of society is indispensable to the subsistence of each human being and of the human species in general."

- "Only the figures loaded with the past are rich in the future."

- "My respect for society, and that of each of its members, for others, is what makes the coexistence of human beings possible."

- "The purpose of literary creation is to illuminate the hearts of all men, in which they are merely human."

References

1. Tamaro, E. (2004-2019). Alfonso Reyes. (N / a): Biographies and Lives. Recovered from: biografiasyvidas.com.
2. Biography of Alfonso Reyes. (2017). (N / a): Who Net, thousands of biographies. Recovered from: who.net.
3. Alfonso Reyes Ochoa. (2019). Spain: Wikipedia. Recovered from: es.wikipedia.org.
4. Moreno, E., Ramírez, M. and others. (2018). Alfonso Reyes. (N / a): Search Biographies. Recovered from: Buscabiografias.com.
5. Alfonso Reyes. (S. f.). (N / a): Writers Org. Recovered from: writers.org.