MARTÍN LUIS GUZMÁN: BIOGRAPHY, STYLE, WORKS - LITERATURE - 2025

Martín Luís Guzmán Franco (1887-1976) was a Mexican writer and journalist, and also carried out diplomatic activities. His literary work was framed within realism, oriented mainly towards the genre of novels based on the 1910 Revolution.

The main characteristics of Guzmán's writings were the use of precise and clear language. He also developed real characters, the moral and historical were elements present in his works; for that and much more he has been considered one of the precursors of the revolutionary novel.

Martín Luis Guzmán. Source: User: Tatehuari on August 14, 2007, via Wikimedia Commons

The following are some of the author's most prominent titles: The Eagle and the Serpent, The Shadow of the Caudillo and Memories of Pancho Villa. His literary performance earned him several awards, including the National Prize for Sciences and Arts.

Biography

Birth and family

Martín Luís was born on October 6, 1887 in Chihuahua; He came from a cultured family and from the military. His parents were: Martín Guzmán, a colonel who participated in the 1910 Revolution, and Carmen Franco Terrazas. His childhood was spent in different cities of his country.

Guzmán studies

Coat of arms of the National Preparatory School, Guzmán's place of studies. Source: UNAM, via Wikimedia Commons

Martín Luís Guzmán completed his first three years of studies at the Cantonal School of Veracruz, then he moved to the capital of the country to complement them. There he studied at the National Preparatory School, and later began his law degree at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).

First jobs

Although the political and social situation in Mexico was difficult due to the outbreak of the Revolution, the young Guzmán was able to finish his career and soon began to work. Martín devoted himself to various tasks as a lawyer, and also taught drawing classes at the National Preparatory School.

The lawyer and lover of letters also taught Spanish at the Higher School of Commerce, while he taught literature at UNAM. Then, in 1910, he joined the ranks of Pancho Villa, that same year his father died in the middle of the firing lines of the Mexican Revolution.

Guzmán's exile

After having been active in the revolutionary movement for four years, Guzmán went to prison in 1914. After reaching freedom, he had to go into exile after the coup by Victoriano Huerta. In 1915 he was already in Madrid, that same year his first work came to light: La querella de México.

The following year he went to live in North America, whose stay lasted until 1920. At that time he dabbled in literature and journalism, he worked in New York as the head of El Gráfico, a Spanish-language magazine, also collaborated in various media and published: On the banks of the Hudson.

I return to Mexico

In the 1920s, the journalist returned to his country and resumed his professional activities. He worked for several newspapers, among them were: El Universal and El Heraldo. By that date he was elected as a deputy, but was again forced to leave the country.

Second exile

Since 1924, and for more than a decade, Martín Luís lived in exile in Spain. He did various journalistic tasks in newspapers such as: La Voz, El Sol and El Debate. In addition to this, he published several of his books, among which were: The Eagle and the Serpent and The Shadow of the Leader.

At that time, in the mid-thirties and the beginning of World War II, he began to sympathize with communist ideas. However, his liberal thinking and feeling completely separated him from those guidelines. He returned to his country before the beginning of the 1930s.

Back in your country

Established again in Mexico, Guzmán rejoined political and social life, he also continued to practice journalism. In 1939 he created the Ediapsa publishing house, the following year he released the book: Memories of Pancho Villa. In 1940 he was appointed a member of the Mexican Academy of the Language.

In 1942 he founded and directed Tiempo, a literary and political weekly. Later he was the representative of his country before the United Nations, from 1953 to 1958. He was also director of the National Commission for Free Textbooks from 1959 to 1976.

Last years and death

Martín Luís expressed his position on the historical event of Tlatelolco in 1968 from the pages of Time. The writer was in favor of the repression of the students, and manifested it by supporting then-President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, who had ordered the use of force against the student movement.

During the last years of his life, Guzmán served as a senator from the then Federal District, today Mexico City, from 1970 to 1976. He finally died at the age of eighty-nine on December 22, 1976 in the Mexican capital.

Style

Guzmán's literary style was characterized by being realistic, by the use of a precise and at the same time critical language, and in his texts his knowledge of how Mexicans expressed themselves was evidenced. It is known that the theme of his work focused mainly on the history and Revolution of his country.

In the novels of Martín Luís, the presence of energetic and dynamic characters was notorious, not far from reality. The author also offered moral and political reflections to readers in relation to the development of Mexico at the time each of his works was published.

Plays

- The lawsuit of Mexico (1915).

- On the banks of the Hudson (1920).

- The Eagle and the Serpent (1928).

- The shadow of the leader (1929).

- Mina, the waiter: hero of Navarra (1932).

- Memories of Pancho Villa (1940).

- Historical deaths (1958).

- Serene transit of Porfirio Díaz. Ineluctable end of Venustiano Carranza (1958).

Free delivery of the book << La sombra del caudillo >>, by the Secretary of Culture of Mexico City. Source: Milton Martínez / Secretariat of Culture of Mexico City, via Wikimedia Commons

- Chronicles of my exile (1963).

Brief description of some of his works

The eagle and the serpent

It was one of the main novels of this Mexican writer and whose foundation was the Mexican Revolution of 1910. Guzmán added to the work some biographical, experiential connotations, because he was an actor in that armed conflict.

The author was given the task of making a description of a character or relevant fact within that event in each of the chapters. A clear example was the one referred to Francisco "Pancho" Villa. In the novel machismo and cruelty were accentuated.

Structure

Martín Luís divided the novel into two phases. He called the first one "Revolutionary hopes", and this one referred in a certain way to his interaction with the opponents and the villistas; While the other was titled "In the hour of triumph", this was directed more towards the political issue, and set it in the capital.

Chapter "The festival of bullets"

Although the play was based on a real event, many of the actions were developed from the perspective of the writer, and some of the events are fiction. This chapter narrated the confrontation between the military Rodolfo Fierro and Villa.

In addition to the episodes of violence, Guzmán, who was the narrator, also exposed his experiences and his approaches to the main protagonist of the Revolution Pancho Villa. According to the writer, the revolutionary was both bloodthirsty and a leader.

Fragment

“Long months of stay in Chihuahua translated for me into a gradual withdrawal - gradual and voluntary - from the faction that was forming around Carranza and his supporters. The opposite faction -rebel within the rebellion: discontent, unfettered- represented a sense of the Revolution with which I felt more spontaneously in contact…

The simple fact that the entire enemy group of Carranza embraced Villa's military support could be interpreted now, but rather as the announcement of our future defeat, rather as the expression of the internal conflict that threatened the revolutionary impulse… ”.

The shadow of the caudillo

It was an indispensable Guzmán novel within the modern narrative. The author exposed in this writing some questions and complaints about some acts of corruption after the Revolution, as well as about the deaths of some politicians.

Through this work Martín Luís Guzmán left among said the murders of personalities such as: Venustiano Carranza, Emiliano Zapata, Francisco Madero and Francisco Villa. The political moment of the novel was based on the government of Álvaro Obregón.

Film adaptation

This Guzmán novel was brought to the big screen in 1960 by the Mexican writer Julio Bracho. Although it was performed at various festivals, in Mexico it was banned without explanation. The work was shown to the public on October 25, 1990, under the government of Carlos Salinas de Gortari.

Fragment

“The friends greeted them with a wave of joy; in front of them, La Mora, the one who walked daily through San Francisco, wrapped her head in a colorful scarf…

They were ushered into the dining room around whose round table they all sat, they and they prepared to enjoy… Shortly after starting to drink, Oliver Fernández began to speak about politics. The others followed him. With which they surrendered to listen with deep interest, although perhaps they did not understand well the issue that was being debated… ".

References

1. Martín Luís Guzmán. (2019). Spain: Wikipedia. Recovered from: es.wikipedia.org.
2. Tamaro, E. (S. f.). Martín Luís Guzmán. (N / a): Biographies and Lives. Recovered from: biografiasyvidas.com.
3. Martín Luís Guzmán. (2017). Mexico: Mexican Academy of the Language. Recovered from: academia.org.mx.
4. Martín Luís Guzmán. (S. f.). Cuba: Ecu Red. Recovered from: ecured.cu.
5. The eagle and the serpent. (2018). Spain: Wikipedia. Recovered from: es.wikipedia.org.