JOSÉ VASCONCELOS: BIOGRAPHY, PHILOSOPHY, CONTRIBUTIONS AND WORKS - LITERATURE - 2025

José Vasconcelos (1882-1959) was a multifaceted man who played a fundamental role in the Mexican Revolution, as well as in the construction of modern institutions in this Latin American nation. He was a Mexican lawyer, educator, writer, politician, and philosopher.

In his autobiographies, he related the process that the revolution followed for the creation of a new State in Mexico. Especially his contributions were focused on the education sector.

Harris & Ewing, photographer. via Wikimedia Commons

José Vasconcelos was the first secretary of Public Education. Another of the positions from which he approached his vocation for teaching was as rector of the National University, UNAM, and later as director of the National Library of Mexico.

He supported his own theory of the cosmic race in which he indicated that a fifth race would arise in America that would be the result of the union of all the others. Those new men would be in charge of building a new civilization.

It is considered that his thinking took a radical turn towards his last years of life, since he first identified with the Mexican Revolution, with which he worked closely. However, at the end of his days he became a militant of the extreme right.

After participating in and losing the presidential elections of 1929, his sympathy for Nazism increased, which was widely criticized and unpopular. Some of their opinions were reflected in the magazine Timón, an anti-Semitic publication created by Vasconcelos himself.

Among the recognitions that José Vasconcelos received are the honorary doctorates that he received from various universities. In addition, he was given the title of teacher of the Youth of America.

José Vasconcelos was a member of the Academia Mexicana de la Lengua, which is the highest authority on the language in that country. In addition, he was part of the National School, in which the most relevant art and science characters in Mexico entered.

Biography

Early years

José Vasconcelos Calderón was born in Oaxaca on February 27, 1882. He was the son of Carmen Calderón Conde and Ignacio Vasconcelos Varela, a customs clerk who worked on the Mexican border with the United States of America.

When José Vasconcelos was very young, his family moved to Piedras Negras in Coahuila and received his first letters at a school in Texas called Eagle Pass. There he learned to speak English fluently.

Vasconcelos had to face the rejection of his North American classmates from an early age, which caused him to be a fierce defender of indigenous rights in his early years and to reject everything that had to do with the United States of America. North America.

Then he had to attend the Toluca Scientific Institute and the Campechano Institute to continue his education. His mother, Carmen Calderón, passed away in 1898. At that time, José Vasconcelos enrolled in the National Preparatory School, where he finished his secondary studies. From there she went to the National School of Jurisprudence where she graduated in Law in 1907.

Revolutionary Beginnings

His beginnings as a sympathizer of revolutionary ideals occurred a couple of years after receiving his degree. It was then that he opposed the educational system that was imposed during the government of Porfirio Díaz.

He participated together with other young people in the creation of the Ateneo de la Juventud Mexicana. Those who were integrated there generated rich intellectual debates about the system that governed their country during that time.

They defended freedom of thought and teaching, also promoted Mexican cultural traditions, giving relevance to the contact between the inhabitants and their own roots, which gave way to Mexican nationalism.

Francisco Madero invited José Vasconcelos to join his initiative in 1909. This led to the creation of the National Anti-reelection Party, which put Francisco I. Madero as a candidate for the Mexican presidency.

After the dubious elections in which Porfirio Díaz was the winner, Madero's supporters united around the Plan of San Luis, with which the 1910 revolution began. A year after Porfirio Díaz's resignation, Madero was elected as President.

Revolution

After the uprising promoted by the military forces of Victoriano Huerta, in which they assassinated President Madero, José Vasconcelos went into exile in the United States of America.

When Venustiano Carranza opposed Victoriano Huerta, Vasconcelos was commissioned to gain the support of powers such as the United States, England, France and other European nations and, upon returning to Mexico, he was assigned as director of the National Preparatory School.

In 1915, José Vasconcelos returned to exile in the United States due to disagreements with the Carranza government. Five years later, President Adolfo de la Huerta appointed him rector of the National University (UNAM).

From that position, Vasconcelos was in charge of promoting in university students the knowledge of classical works and the strengthening of human values ​​in young professionals, which would serve as a platform for social service to the nation.

During his tenure as head of the house of studies, the UNAM logo was redesigned and the motto that reads: "By my race the spirit will speak" was implemented, with which he tried to promote Mexican cultural values.

Education secretary

In 1921 José Vasconcelos was appointed as the first Secretary of Public Education in Mexico. In that position, he was in charge of the educational reform of the 20th century, which was aimed at the cultural nationalism of the country.

Some of the main actions taken in the reform were the popularization of education, the creation of infrastructure in rural areas, the publication of works and the diffusion of culture in the country.

This educational project was compared to a cultural evangelization of the nation, since Vasconcelos' idea was that each one of the people who could read and write should assume a literacy role.

Vasconcelos was not in favor of the educational segregation of indigenous people, but rather thought that a plan should be created through which they would be prepared to be included in the national educational system.

For Vasconcelos, the creation of infrastructure that could serve cultural purposes for Mexicans of any social stratum, both in schools of all levels, as well as libraries and venues dedicated to art, was essential.

Candidacy and elections

José Vasconcelos participated in the presidential elections of 1929, with the support of the National Antirelectionist Party, in which he was measured against Pascual Ortiz Rubio.

The Vasconcelos contender was backed by Plutarco Elías Calles and the elections were very controversial due to all the irregularities that occurred around the campaign and the results.

Several of the leaders who supported José Vasconcelos were assassinated at the hands of some deputies and hitmen, apparently paid for by Calles and his people. There were even several attacks against Vasconcelos himself.

The elections, which were held on November 17, 1929, indicated that Pascual Ortiz Rubio had won the majority of the votes (1,947,884), thus achieving 93.58% of the total. While Vasconcelos would have obtained 5.42% with 110,979 votes, and the rest was distributed among the other candidates.

However, many consider those results to be adulterated. It was then that José Vasconcelos called the people to rise up with the Guaymas Plan, through which he wanted to take over the presidency. Despite this, in December he had to go into exile again to the United States of America.

Last years

During his exile, after losing the presidential elections, José Vasconcelos toured the United States, Europe and some Latin American countries. In them he stood out as a lecturer and university professor specialized in Latin American studies.

From that departure from Mexico until his death, he devoted himself intensely to intellectual activity, although he was already disenchanted by his political failure.

After his return, he began to work as director of the National Library from 1941 to 1947. His time at the institution was enriching for it, since at that time the National Newspaper Library was founded (1944).

In 1939, Vasconelos was selected as a member of the Academia Mexicana de la Lengua, and in 1953 he was awarded the V Chair, which made him a full member. He entered as one of the founding members of the National College in 1943.

He also presided over the Mexican Institute of Hispanic Culture in 1948. Ten years later, Vasconcelos was selected as vice president of the International Federation of Philosophical Societies, based in Venice.

The last years of Vasconcelos were marked by his change of course in terms of political thought, since after having supported the Mexican Revolution, linked to the left, he became a fervent defender of the right, which led him to support to the Nazi regime.

Death

José Vasconcelos died on June 30, 1959 at the age of 77. He was in the neighborhood of Tacubaya in Mexico City working on Litanies of the Sunset, one of his works that was published posthumously.

Before dying, Vasconcelos left his express wish not to be buried in the Pantheon of Illustrious Persons, since he considered that Mexico could not ignore his political work to focus solely on his intellectual activity.

He was married twice, the first in 1906 to Serafina Miranda, with whom he had two children named José and Carmen.

After the death of his first wife, Vasconcelos remarried in 1942 Esperanza Cruz, a pianist. From this last union was born Héctor Vasconcelos, who became a Mexican politician and diplomat, currently serving as a congressional senator.

Philosophy

The philosophical thought of José Vasconcelos is rich and original, since it encompasses different notions, including aesthetics, metaphysics, and Mexicanism itself.

He was strongly opposed to positivism, which is why he proposed to change the name of the Secretary of Public Instruction to the Secretary of Public Education.

However, his main and best-known approach to philosophy is that which he exposes in the work baptized as The Cosmic Race. In it, she states that in Latin America there will be the emergence of a fifth race that will be the union of the other four, but at the same time will have its own characteristics.

In this it is stated that natural selection will cause the less desirable characteristics, both aesthetic and intellectual, as well as behavioral, to be discarded by the new individuals, who will be the only ones capable of achieving the construction of a new civilization in its most advanced stage.

Contributions

José Vasconcelos's greatest contributions were in the area of ​​education and also in the arts as part of the attempt to strengthen culture in general.

The Ministry of Education initiated a plan that revolutionized the institutions as they were known in Mexico until then.

For that, he fundamentally focused on the creation of schools, both rural and in the city, as well as on the strengthening of educational institutions at all levels and the democratization of education, that is, that it was available to all Mexicans.

He also promoted literature and reading as a necessary exercise for cultural diffusion. He supported many fine artists, especially those who were part of the Mexican mural renaissance movement.

Music was also part of the projects that covered the reform plan of Vasconcelos. One of the examples was the creation of the Mexico Symphony Orchestra founded by Carlos Chávez with the support of José Vasconcelos.

Plays

Philosophy

- Pythagoras, (1919).

- The aesthetic monism, (1919).

- The cosmic race, (1925).

- Indology, (1926).

- Metaphysics, (1929).

- Joyful pessimism, (1931).

- Aesthetics, (1936).

- Ethics, (1939).

- History of philosophical thought, (1937).

- Organic logic, (1945).

Other

- Dynamic theory of law, (1907).

- The Mexican intelligentsia, (1916).

- Ulises criollo, (1935).

- The storm, (1936).

- Brief history of Mexico, (1937).

- The disaster, (1938).

- The proconsulate, (1939).

- The twilight of my life, (1957).

- The flame. Those from Above in the Revolution. History and Tragedy, (1959).

- The Political Letters of José Vasconcelos, (1959).

- Complete works, (1957-1961).

References

1. En.wikipedia.org. (2019). José Vasconcelos. Available at: en.wikipedia.org.
2. Encyclopedia Britannica. (2019). José Vasconcelos - Mexican educator. Available at: britannica.com.
3. Carmona, D. (nd). José Vasconcelos Calderón. Memoriapoliticademexico.org. Available at: memoriapoliticademexico.org.
4. Ocampo López, J. (2005). José Vasconcelos and Mexican Education. Journal of Latin American Education History, 7, pp. 139-159.
5. Jewish Link. (2018). Was José Vasconcelos, Mexico's first Secretary of Public Education, Nazi and anti-Semitic? Your child answers exclusively. Available at: Enlacejudio.com.
6. Arreola Martínez, B. (2019). Life and Work of José Vasconcelos. The cultural leader of the Nation. House of Time, III (25), pp. 4-10.
7. Encyclopedia of Literature in Mexico. (2019). National Library. Available at: elem.mx.
8. Compendium of University Legislation (2015). José Vasconcelos and the National University. UNAM Foundation. Available at: fundacionunam.org.mx.