VICENTE RIVA PALACIO: BIOGRAPHY, STYLE, WORKS, PHRASES - LITERATURE - 2025

Vicente Florencio Carlos Riva Palacio Guerrero (1832-1896) better known as Vicente Riva Palacio, was a Mexican writer, lawyer, politician and military man. The life of this character passed between his passion for literature and his performance in several important events in his country.

From the literary point of view, Riva Palacio was a lover of letters, taste and talent, which he materialized through the publication of several works. His writings were characterized by having a simple and easily understood language. Colonization was predominant in his texts.

Vicente Riva Palacio. Source: Sergio Zaragoza Sicre, via Wikimedia Commons

The writer dominated several literary genres, among them: the essay, the short story and the theater; however, it was in the novel where he stood out the most. Some of his most recognized titles were: Nun and Married, Virgin and Martyr, Hereditary Hate, Calvary and Tabor, Tales of the General, among others.

Biography

Birth and family

Vicente was born on October 16, 1832 in Mexico City, into a family of politicians and military men of high social status. His parents were Mariano Riva Palacio, lawyer and politician, and Dolores Guerrero, daughter of Vicente Guerrero, hero of Mexican independence.

Riva Palacio Studios

Vicente Riva Palacio was trained in the educational institutions of his hometown, in addition, military training was part of his life. So in 1847, when he was fifteen years old, he was part of an armed group to fight against the United States, in the so-called "Mexican-American War."

Beginnings in writing

Even in his younger years, the military man began to put his talent for letters into practice and began to write in various print media, especially with a liberal tendency. The pages of the newspapers La Chinaca and La Orquesta were essential for him to present his ideas and first texts.

First actions in politics

Perhaps due to the influence and family example, Vicente Riva Palacio entered politics as a young man. At twenty-three years of age he served as a councilor, or alderman at that time, also as a mayoral official from 1856 to 1857, and was a substitute deputy in Congress.

Old Books, painted by Vicente Riva Palacio during his stay in Madrid as a diplomat. Source: Rf, via Wikimedia Commons

Between the theater and the French

At the beginning of the sixties, Riva Palacio began to develop one of his greatest literary hobbies: the theater. Between 1861 and 1862 he published more than a dozen theatrical pieces in verse, some were: The domestic tyrant, The law of one percent, La politicomanía and Martín el demente.

At the same time, Mexico went through the second French intervention, for this reason Vicente decided to form a military troop to fight it in conjunction with the famous Ignacio Zaragoza Seguin. That led him to star in the famous fall of Puebla and the battle of Barranca Seca.

Riva Palacio with Benito Juárez

In 1863 he joined the politician Benito Juárez, soon after he was appointed Governor of the State of Mexico, in that position he took over several towns, including: Zitácuaro. Two years later he came to govern Michoacán, and soon after he was head of the Republican Army of the Center.

In the restoration of the Republic

After the restoration of the Republic in 1867 (after the second intervention of France and with Juárez in the presidency), Riva put aside his military troops and his position as governor. At the same time he ran for the vice presidency of the nation, but was not elected.

Later, from 1868 to 1870, he served as the authority of the Supreme Court of Justice. At the same time two of her novels came to light: Nun and Married, Virgin and Martyr and Martín Garatuza. Some time later he began to write political articles in the Constitutional and La Paleta Real.

Riva Palacio in the first stage of the "Porfiriato"

In the mid-1970s, Vicente Riva Palacio was politically united with the military and president of Mexico on seven occasions, Porfirio Díaz. This meant that he participated in the well-known Plan of Tuxtepec that Díaz developed in 1876 to overthrow President Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada.

Vicente's loyalty to Porfirio made him part of his ministerial cabinet in his first two presidential terms. That is how he was in charge of the direction of Development, and managed to complete the Paseo de la Reforma, rescued the Ruins of Palenque in Chiapas and created the country's Astronomical Observatory.

Imprisonment

Vicente Riva's criticism of the government of Manuel González made him a political prisoner in 1883. The writer was imprisoned in the military dungeons of Santiago Tlatelolco. The time he spent in that prison was invested in writing Historia del virreinato, a text that was incorporated in the Mexico encyclopedia through the centuries.

Last years and death

After being released from prison, Riva Palacio began to lose his popularity, this was mainly due to the fact that he had published in 1882: Los ceros, an essay work that was not to the total liking of Porfirio Díaz. For all of the above, the writer was diplomatically expelled from Mexico in 1885.

Tomb of Vicente Riva Palacio. Source: Thelmadatter, via Wikimedia Commons

The form of expulsion was particular, Díaz appointed him as the country's representative in Portugal and Spain. During his stay in Europe he wrote: History of the war of intervention in Michoacán and Tales of the general. Vicente Riva Palacio died on November 22, 1896 in Madrid, and in 1936 his remains were repatriated to Mexico.

Style

Vicente Riva Palacio's literature was characterized by the use of a simple and precise language, with certain humorous and sarcastic features. In the case of his journalistic works, he did not hesitate to be critical and blunt towards the politics of his country, standing firm to his liberal thoughts and ideas.

Although the Mexican writer skillfully mastered several genres of literature, the novel was his strong suit. He wrote several short novels where the Spanish conquest period predominated. On the other hand, his plays, stories and essays were also marked by history.

Plays

Novels

Letters

- Love letters with Josefina Bros (1853-1855).

Brief description of some of his works

The viceroyalty. History of Spanish rule in Mexico from 1521 to 1808

It was one of the best-known works by Riva Palacio, which appeared in the essay genre. Although he began to write it in 1884, he finished it almost in its entirety while he was Manuel González's political prisoner in 1889. Since its publication, it has enjoyed great prestige for its content.

The viceroyalty was of a historical nature, since it dealt with the colonization process of the Spanish to America, especially Mexico, the establishment of the monarchy and its advantages and disadvantages. The work was incorporated as volume two to the encyclopedia Mexico through the centuries, which he organized.

Nun and married, virgin and martyr

It was one of Riva Palacio's novels whose central theme revolved around colonial times. At first it was published in the newspaper La Orquesta, until it finally appeared in book form. The narration is developed in an entertaining and fun way, which has made it one of the most widely read.

The plot of the story contains passion and some historical events. The ecclesiastical theme was present through the actions of the Inquisition during the 16th century. The main character of the play was Martín Garatuza, an individual who mocked the justice of New Spain for a long time.

Fragment

“Doña Luisa, the wife of the merchant Don Manuel de la Sosa, was without dispute one of the most beautiful and elegant ladies in the city. No one had known her parents, and overnight, as the common people said, Don Manuel appeared married to her…

Although all this had a lot of the air of a novel, the public believed it for the same reason that the public is more fond of believing the wonderful than the natural… ”.

Calvary and Tabor

It was the third novel published by Riva Palacio, and unlike the others, it was the only one that dealt with military issues. The argument was based on the second intervention that the French made to Mexico, and where the writer had a leading role.

However, in the narrative, the writer was not exactly the main character, but rather brightened the performance of a soldier named Nicolás Romero. It is a work of important historical value, because it also evidenced the national fervor of Mexicans and their desire to be a free Republic.

Fragment. Chapter III "The crime of a veteran"

"" Fourteen years ago, "said Don Plácido," I lived in Acapulco. I had just asked for my separation from the service… Since I was a child I had followed the arms race; I was enthusiastic about the war of independence, I followed Mr. Morelos, Galeana, and then Guerrero, until finally, tired and with some commander's badges, when I had started in the soldier class, I returned after forty years of adventures to Acapulco, my homeland, to seek tranquility and wait for the death that had not come to meet me in the campaign.

Fragment of the poem "Al viento"

"When I was a child, with dread I heard you

groaning at the doors of my room;

painful, saddest regret

of mysterious beings I believed you.

… Today I feel you whipping, in the dark

nights, from my prison the strong bars;

but they have already told me my misadventures

that you are wind, no more, when you complain, you are wind if you roar or murmur, wind if you arrive, wind if you go away ”.

Fragment of the poem "The death of the tyrant"

"Wounded to death, hesitant

and with the clumsy and badly safe step

support look in the nearby wall

but first it collapses throbbing.

… The corrupted spreads without heat

and black blood that pours into the bosom

the wide wound from her livid lips, and the world says when contemplating inert:

mockery of virtue was his life

vindictive of the law was his death ”.

Phrases

- "Love is a complete change of nature, immense joy in which there is immense pain, desire for death in life, hope of life in death."

- "Flattery is the most active poison and the one that men take most easily, no matter how alert they are."

- "Final success depends on the first steps throughout the company."

- "Only God can look to the future and give victory or send misfortune."

- "Those who tell us that life is the golden and deceptive cup lie…".

- "Neither grudges for the past nor fears for the future."

- "… A people had to emerge that was neither the conquered nor the conqueror, but who inherited virtues and vices, glories and traditions, characters and temperaments…".

References

1. Vicente Riva Palacio. (2019). Spain: Wikipedia. Recovered from: es.wikipedia.org.
2. Tamaro, E. (2004-2019). Vicente Riva Palacio. (N / a): Biographies and Lives. Recovered from: biografiasyvidas.com.
3. Vicente Riva Palacio. (S. f.). Cuba: Ecu Red. Recovered from: ecured.cu.
4. Vicente Riva Palacio. (2014). Spain: Biographies.es. Recovered from: biografia.es.
5. Muñoz, A. (2017). Vicente Riva Palacio. Mexico: Encyclopedia of Literature in Mexico. Recovered from: elem.mx.