Guillermo Prieto

{{Short description|19th-century Mexican writer and politician}} {{family name hatnote|Prieto|Pradillo|lang=Spanish}} {{More citations needed|date=December 2009}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}} {{Infobox officeholder | image = Guillermo_Prieto.jpg | image_size = | caption = | office1 = Minister of Finance | term_start1 = 28 January 1858 | term_end1 = 5 August 1858 | president1 = Benito Juárez | predecessor1 = Melchor Ocampo | successor1 = Melchor Ocampo | term_start2 = 20 January 1861 | term_end2 = 5 April 1861 | president2 = Benito Juárez | predecessor2 = Melchor Ocampo | successor2 = Francisco de P. Gochicoa | office3 = Minister of Foreign Affairs | term_start3 = | term_end3 = | president3 = José María Iglesias | predecessor3 = | successor3 = | birth_date = {{birth date|1818|02|10|df=y}}<ref name="dict">{{cite book|title=Dictionary of Mexican Literature|last=Cortés|first=Eladio|year=1992|page=[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofmexi00nari/page/541 541]|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|location=Westport, Conn., USA|isbn=0-313-26271-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofmexi00nari |url-access=registration|access-date=7 December 2009}}</ref> | birth_place = Mexico City<ref name="dict" /> | death_date = {{death date and age|1897|03|02|1818|02|10|df=y}}<ref name="dict" /> | death_place = Tacubaya, Mexico City<ref name="dict" /> | resting_place = Dolores Civil Cemetery | resting_place_coordinates = {{coord|19.40679|-99.20459|type:landmark_region:MX-DIF|display=inline|name=Dolores Civil Cemetery}} | party = Liberal | other_party =  | spouse = Emilia Golard<ref name="monsivais">{{cite book|last=Monsivais|first=Carlos|title=Las herencias ocultas de la reforma liberal del siglo XIX|publisher=Random House Mondadori|location=Mexico City|year=2006|page=113|isbn= 9789707803343|language=es}}</ref> | relations = | children = | alma_mater = | occupation = {{flatlist| * Writer * journalist * politician }} | signature = }}

'''Guillermo Prieto Pradillo''' {{Audio|Es-Guillermo Prieto.ogg |audio}} (10 February 1818 – 2 March 1897) was a Mexican novelist, short-story writer, poet, chronicler, journalist, essayist, patriot and Liberal politician.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=McLean |first=Malcolm D. |date=1954 |title=Guillermo Prieto (1818–1897), A Forgotten Historian of Mexico |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/americas/article/abs/guillermo-prieto-18181897-a-forgotten-historian-of-mexico/A8D97145C0CF1E0D80C62C8E6B8C5979 |journal=The Americas |language=en |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=79–88 |doi=10.2307/978103 |issn=0003-1615|url-access=subscription }}</ref> According to Eladio Cortés, during his lifetime he was considered Mexico's national poet,<ref name="dict" /> and his political allegiance to the Mexican liberals allowed him to serve as Minister of Finance and Minister of Foreign Affairs under different administrations.

In his writings he used several pen names, including '''Don Benedeno''' and '''Fidel'''.<ref name="dict" />

==Early years== Prieto was born in Mexico City, the son of José María Prieto Gamboa and Josefa Pradillo y Estañol. His childhood was spent near the Molino del Rey ("King's Mill"), next to the historic Chapultepec Castle, since his father administered the mill and the associated bakery.<ref name="mexicodesconocido">{{cite web|url=http://www.mexicodesconocido.com.mx/notas/4215-Guillermo-Prieto-Pradillo|title=Guillermo Prieto Pradillo|publisher=México Desconocido|language=es|access-date=7 December 2009|archive-date=7 September 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090907144512/http://www.mexicodesconocido.com.mx/notas/4215-Guillermo-Prieto-Pradillo|url-status=dead}}</ref> When Prieto was 13 his father died and his mother had a nervous breakdown. Andrés Quintana Roo and Fernando Calderón took him under his protection, and he was thus able to continue his studies.<ref name="huerta">{{cite book|last=Huerta|first=David|title=Cuentos románticos|publisher=Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México|location=Mexico City|year=1973|series=Biblioteca del estudiante universitario|volume=98|pages=97–99|isbn= 9789683630384|oclc=2280432|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1Ek78dakiFAC&pg=PA97|access-date=7 December 2009|language=es}}</ref> After working in a clothing store and in the customs, he entered the Colegio de San Juan de Letrán.

Together with Manuel Toussaint Ferrer and the brothers José María y Juan Lacunza, he founded the {{ill|Academia de Letrán|es}} in June 1836, with the aim of "the Mexicanization of literature". Quintana Roo was named "perpetual director" of the Academy.

Prieto began his career as a journalist and theater critic with ''El Siglo XX'', publishing the column ''Los San Lunes de Fidel''. He worked for ''El Monitor Republicano'', and together with Ignacio Ramírez he founded the satirical periodical ''Don Simplicio''. A supporter of the Liberal Party from a young age, he advocated its positions in the press and in his other writings.

==Political career== thumb|Monument in Veracruz Prieto became personal secretary of Valentín Gómez Farías and Anastasio Bustamante, in succession. Under Bustamante he was editor of ''El Diario Oficial''. He was minister of finance (''hacienda'') under Presidents Mariano Arista, Juan Álvarez and Benito Juárez. He was a congressional deputy 15 times and a representative of Puebla in the Constituent Congress of 1856-57. Together with other Liberals he supported the Plan of Ayutla, proclaimed 1 March 1854 and aimed at overthrowing dictator Antonio López de Santa Anna. For this he suffered temporary exile in Cadereyta, Guanajuato. As minister of finance under President Juárez, he accompanied the president into exile after the coup by Félix María Zuloaga.

During the subsequent Reform War, he saved the life of President Juárez in Guadalajara by stepping between the president and the guns of the rebelling guardsmen (14 March 1858). The guardsmen backed down and did not shoot. Prieto composed the satirical song of the Liberal army, "Los cangrejos" (The Crabs). It was to the tune of "Los cangrejos" that the Liberals under General Jesús González Ortega reentered Mexico City in January 1861, ending the Reform War.

After the return of the Republican government to Mexico City, Prieto, again minister of finance, published the decree of 5 February 1861 declaring that ecclesiastical property was and had always been property of the nation, and that as a consequence, contracts and other dealings celebrated by the clergy without the consent of the constitutional government were null and void.

He later served as minister of foreign relations in the government of José María Iglesias.

In 1890 the periodical ''La República'' held a poll to choose the most popular poet in Mexico. Prieto won easily. He was named by Ignacio Manuel Altamirano the "Mexican poet par excellence, the poet of the Fatherland".

According to Eladio Cortés, in his old age "he became somewhat of an eccentric in his manners and in his general appearance".<ref name="dict" /> He died in Tacubaya on 2 March 1897 at age 79, in the presence of his second wife, Emilia Golard, his children and his grandchildren.<ref name="monsivais" />

==Works==

right|thumb|alt=A black and white, full-length portrait of an middle-aged bearded man wearing a dark suit, a bow tie, and resting his right hand over a small column.|Full-length portrait of Guillermo Prieto.

A prolific author in many genres, with a festive and ironic style, Prieto's political passion is never far beneath the surface. He is remembered especially for the following works.

===Poetry=== *''Versos inéditos'' (2 vol., Mexico City, Imprenta del Comercio de Dublán y Chávez, 1879), includes two sections: "Poesías varias" and "Poesías festivas y Musa callejera". *''Musa callejera'' (3 vol., Mexico City, Tipografía Literaria de Filomeno Mata, 1883), a retelling of Mexican folklore topics. *''El romancero nacional'' (Mexico City, Oficina Tipográfica de la Secretaría de Fomento, 1885), a patriotic epic.

===Prose=== *''Memorias de mis tiempos de 1828 a 1840'' (Paris, 1906) *''Memorias de mis tiempos de 1840 a 1853'' (Paris, 1906) *''Viajes de orden supremo'' (unfinished, 1857) *''Viajes a los Estados Unidos'' (3 vol., Mexico City, Dublán y Chávez, 1878) *''Compendio de Historia Universal''

===Drama=== *''El Alférez'' (1840) *''Alonso de Ávila'' (1 May 1842) *''Los tres Boticarios'' *''El Susto de Pinganillas'' (19 March 1843) *''Patria y Honra'' *''La Novia del Erario'' *''Monólogo a mi Padre''

As professor of political economy and later professor of national history at the Military College, Prieto also wrote ''Indicaciones sobre el origen, virtudes y estado que guardan actualmente las rentas generales de la federación mexicana'' (1850), ''Lecciones elementales de economía política'' (1871–1888), ''Lecciones de historia patria'' (1886) and ''Breve introducción al estudio de la historia universal'' (1888).

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links==

* {{Gutenberg author|id=45281}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prieto, Guillermo}} Category:1818 births Category:1897 deaths Category:19th-century Mexican poets Category:Mexican male poets Category:Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Mexico) Category:Secretaries of finance of Mexico Category:Secretaries of foreign affairs of Mexico Category:Politicians from Mexico City Category:Writers from Mexico City Category:19th-century Mexican male writers Category:Burials at the Panteón de Dolores Category:Writers of mythic fiction