JUSTO SIERRA MÉNDEZ: BIOGRAPHY AND OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTIONS - HISTORY - 2025

Justo Sierra Méndez was an important Mexican politician, liberal writer, journalist, and poet. Its most prominent influence on Mexican history occurred from the end of the 19th century to the mid-20th century. Sierra Méndez stood out for writing socio-political works narrating events of the governments of Benito Juárez and Porfirio Díaz.

His father was Justo Sierra O'Reilly, who was a Mexican novelist who is credited with being the inspiration for his son's literary career. The same year that his father passed away, Sierra Méndez moved to the capital of Mexico. In that year the French attacked Mexico after the policies imposed by the then liberal president Benito Juárez.

Biography

Justo Sierra Méndez was born on January 26, 1848 in San Francisco de Campeche, a town that belonged to what was the Independent Republic of Yucatán; his grandfather had been an important political figure in the then republic.

His father, Justo Sierra O'Reilly, had been born in the same town when Yucatán was part of Mexico in 1814. Sierra O'Reilly was a prominent Mexican writer, historian, and poet, who became attached to his hometown.

Studies

After the death of his father in 1861, Justo Sierra Méndez left the town and moved to Mexico City, where he studied where he stood out for his excellent grades. Once completed, he began to rub shoulders with important literary figures from Mexico, learning poetry and improving his writing.

During this period, he earned a place among the most important writers and poets of the time. In fact, he surprised established literary men with the incredible talent he displayed at such a young age.

He specialized in writing novels, short stories, and literary works. Local newspapers began to publish her poems and in 1968 she began to write her first essays. In the early 1870s, Sierra Méndez graduated as a lawyer.

Foray into politics

Sierra Méndez was always a liberal politician. He was elected on several occasions to serve in Congress and held political positions in the Mexican government, mainly in the Porfirio Díaz regime: the Porfiriato.

Being a liberal, Sierra Méndez had a peculiar thought for the time, especially for a man as prepared as he. He believed that the dictatorship was a dignified system as long as it was well implemented. This is why he served during the Porfirio Díaz regime, whom he never flattered.

Díaz recognized his talent and always held him in high esteem, including him in relevant positions in his government.

Political belief

Sierra Méndez never fully agreed with Porfirio Díaz, as the military's policies were not in favor of Sierra Méndez's enlightened beliefs. This never excluded the participation of Sierra Méndez in the politics of Porfirio Díaz, since the dictator knew the important contributions that Méndez would make to the country.

Sierra Méndez was a strong believer that education was the foundation of every country, and that every educated person would not be a burden to the government, but rather someone who should not be worried about. His political career revolved around the promulgation of education throughout Mexico, without leaving behind his liberal ideas.

"Illustrated dictatorship"

It is said that Sierra Méndez's political belief was an "enlightened dictatorship," a concept that represents a political system in which there is a president who makes absolute decisions, but always under reason and giving importance to the education of the nation. The origins of this concept date back to 18th century Europe.

In 1894 he became part of the Mexican Supreme Court, an institution of which he would later become president.

Díaz appointed him Secretary of Public Education in 1905, a position in which he served until his death. There he had the ability to implement all the educational reforms he had dreamed of, restructuring Mexican education and promoting new systems that would lay the foundations for the educational future of the country.

Visit to Madrid and last years

During the last decade of the Porfiriato, Sierra Méndez visited Madrid. She moved there in 1901 with the aim of participating in the Spanish-American Congress, where she met the Spanish poet and literary Rubén Darío.

Such was the talent and knowledge that Sierra Méndez possessed that after the revolution that overthrew the Díaz dictatorship in 1911, he was offered a position as Mexican ambassador to Spain.

He only served as ambassador for a year, as he died in Madrid in 1912. His body was returned to Mexico and he was given a funeral worthy of one of the most influential thinkers and literary men in the history of Mexico.

Outstanding contributions

Formalization of education

During his presence in Congress in 1881, he promulgated a law that made primary education compulsory throughout the country. He was the first Mexican politician to give such importance to basic education.

Texts for basic education

Many of his books were aimed at primary school students, with the aim that these were used in classrooms and to reinforce the knowledge obtained in schools.

In addition, he was one of the largest contributors to the literary texts of Mexico. Although most were written before the overthrow of the Diaz regime, they were still used in schools after the establishment of a new government.

UNAM project

It was Sierra Méndez who promulgated the construction of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, originally known as the National University of Mexico.

The promulgation of the construction of this university was during the same year in which the bill of primary education passed. However, the project of the National University of Mexico was not approved until 1911, a year before his death.

College careers

While he was one of the most important members of Porfirio Díaz's cabinet, Sierra Méndez positively modified several university careers to modernize his pensum. For the first time in the history of Mexico, it implemented scholarships to promote education in the country.

References

1. Justo Sierra Facts, Encyclopedia of World Biography. (nd). Taken from biography.yourdictionary.com
2. The Political Evolution of the Mexican People Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs, Sample Text, Taken from jstor.org
3. Rubén Darío, (nd), March 2, 2018. Taken from Wikipedia.org
4. Justo Sierra O'Reilly, (nd), February 27, 2018. Taken from Wikipedia.org
5. Republic of Yucatán, (nd), February 22, 2018. Taken from Wikipedia.org
6. Justo Sierra Méndez, (nd), November 29, 2017. Taken from Wikipedia.org