FRANCISCO JAVIER ALEGRE: BIOGRAPHY AND WORKS - LITERATURE - 2025

Francisco Javier Alegre (1729-1788) was a Mexican writer, philosopher, historian, theologian, and translator. He was known as Novohispano, due to the fact that he was born in the then territory conquered by the Spanish in America, under a viceroyalty, called New Spain.

Javier Alegre was a man of extensive knowledge. He mastered geography, grammar, history, philosophy, and mathematics. He was also knowledgeable in several languages, which allowed him to translate several texts written in different languages, such as Greek, English and Italian.

Francisco Javier Alegre. Public domain. Taken from Wikimedia Commons.

The life of Francisco Javier Alegre was full of adverse circumstances. Among other things, he was taken prisoner for “treason”, and also exiled from his land by orders of the monarch Carlos III. However, he had the courage to move on, and leave his name written in the history of the Hispanic world.

Biography

Birth of Alegre

Francisco Javier Alegre was born on November 12, 1729, in Puerto de Veracruz, formerly New Spain, which is now known as Mexico. Not enough information is known about their parents and families. However, due to the preparation he had, perhaps he came from a cultured and financially well-off family.

Higher education and training

The first years of Francisco Alegre's education were spent in his hometown. Then he studied philosophy and humanities at a seminary in the state of Puebla. In 1747, at eighteen years of age, he joined the Society of Jesus.

With the Jesuits he learned about theology and canon law. He was also interested in learning science such as mathematics; he also leaned towards literature, world history, philosophy and other subjects. As if this were not enough, he dedicated himself to the study of several languages, including the Nahuatl language.

Francisco Alegre as a teacher

Alegre devoted himself to teaching for a time. In Veracruz, for example, she taught classes on humanities and linguistics. Some time later he crossed borders, and arrived in Havana, Cuba, where he taught philosophy. Later, between 1760 and 1763, he was a professor of canon law in Yucatán, Mexico.

In charge of writing the history of the Jesuits

After having taught at the old Royal and Pontifical University of Mérida, in Yucatán, he went in 1764 to what is known as Mexico City. There he was commissioned to continue writing, begun a century earlier, History of the province of the Society of Jesus of New Spain.

Expulsion of Alegre from Mexico

Apparently the actions carried out by the Society of Jesus in Mexico, then a colony of Spain, annoyed King Carlos III. So, in 1767, the monarch ordered that both the religious order and its members be expelled from the Aztec territory.

Portrait of Francisco Javier Alegre. Source: See page for author, via Wikimedia Commons

Alegre was stripped of his texts and writings, and along with his companions, he was accused of disloyalty to the monarchy. All were jailed, until they were taken out of Mexico. His destiny was to reach the then known Papal States in Italy, which were under papal authority.

Exile in Bologna

Francisco Javier Alegre spent his exile in the city of Bologna, Italy. There he began to give free rein to his pen, and wrote a good part of his literary work. In addition, he made some translations, among them the work of the Frenchman Nicolás Boileau, known as Poetic Art.

Last years and death

The last years of Francisco Javier Alegre's life were in exile. He developed a writing on rhetorical art, which the Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote in the 4th century BC. C., on the ability to convince through the word, both written and spoken.

Alegre also dedicated himself to adapting some verses from the Iliad, by the Greek writer and philosopher Homer, to Latin. His work at that time dealt with various subjects, one of them being Mexican geography. Finally, he died on August 16, 1788, on foreign soil.

Plays

The fact that Francisco Javier Alegre was a man of extensive knowledge allowed him to write on many subjects. Although the exact number of his works is not known, those published were enough to leave testimony of his intelligence and legacy.

Some of his best known titles were:

- Poetic art. Translation.

Brief description of some of his works

History of the province of the Society of Jesus of New Spain

This work had been initially conceived by the priest Francisco de Florencia, in the seventeenth century. Later, its continuity was entrusted to Francisco Javier Alegre. It was made known in its native Mexico, long after its completion, between 1841 and 1842.

As the title indicates, the writing was based on the development of the Jesuit order, within the territory of the viceroyalty of Spain on Aztec soil. The work was characterized by being extensive, in addition to being carefully elaborated from the linguistic and grammatical point of view.

Thematic

The objective of History of the province of the Society of Jesus of New Spain was, mainly, to expose the missionary work of the Jesuit priests. At the same time, he also tried to publicize the evangelistic process that they carried out throughout Mexico.

Alexandrias

This work by Alegre was also known as Alexandriada or Alejandriadas. The writer began to produce it in his younger years, and over time it was broader. The writing was based on the conquering feat that the Macedonian king Alexander the Great had over the city of Tire.

Homeri illias latino carmine expresses

This work was a translation into Latin that the writer Francisco Javier Alegre made on one of the greatest Greek texts, Homer's Iliad. The Mexican achieved with her a high place in the history of literature, because several scholars have considered such a version about the wrath of Achilles audacity.

Poetic art

This work was a translation from French to Spanish. The original writing was authored by the French writer and poet Nicolás Boileau, who dealt with the profession of poetry, and what it entails. Alegre added some descriptive notes, and also did it without having the original writing at hand: he only used his memory.

References

1. Francisco Javier Alegre. (2019). Spain: Wikipedia. Recovered from: es.wikipedia.org.
2. Francisco Javier Alegre. (2018). Mexico: Carlos Gracida Institute. Recovered from: alo.com.mx.tripod.com.
3. Reyes, A. (2017). Francisco Javier Alegre. Mexico: Encyclopedia of Literature in Mexico. Recovered from: elem.mx.
4. Francisco Javier Alegre. (2012). Mexico: Destination Veracruz Recovered from: destinoveracruz.com.
5. Anniversary of the death of Francisco Javier Alegre (1729-1788). (2012). Mexico: Circle of Studies of Mexican Philosophy. Recovered from: philosophiamexicana.org.