The ''Científicos'' ( Spanish: "scientists" or "those scientifically oriented") were a circle of technocratic advisors to

President of Mexico The president of Mexico ( es, link=no, Presidente de México), officially the president of the United Mexican States ( es, link=no, Presidente de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos), is the head of state and head of government of Mexico. Under the ...

Porfirio Díaz José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori ( or ; ; 15 September 1830 – 2 July 1915), known as Porfirio Díaz, was a Mexican general and politician who served seven terms as President of Mexico, a total of 31 years, from 28 November 1876 to 6 Decem ...

. Steeped in the positivist "

scientific politics Scientific politics was a late 19th-century political theory based on the positivist philosophy of Auguste Comte. Proponents of scientific politics advocated a society and political system that was to be organized in accordance with the laws of ...

", they functioned as part of his program of modernization at the start of the 20th century. Leading ''Científicos'' included: * Gabino Barreda (1820–1881), a precursor of the group. A

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professo ...

of medicine, Barreda studied in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

under

Auguste Comte Isidore Marie Auguste François Xavier Comte (; 19 January 1798 – 5 September 1857) was a French philosopher and writer who formulated the doctrine of positivism. He is often regarded as the first philosopher of science in the modern sense ...

between 1847 and 1851 and is widely credited with introducing positivism in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

. Put in charge of fulfilling the

1857 Constitution The Federal Constitution of the United Mexican States of 1857 ( es, Constitución Federal de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos de 1857), often called simply the Constitution of 1857, was the liberal constitution promulgated in 1857 by Constituent Cong ...

's promise of secular public education by the early Juárez government, Barreda organized the

National Preparatory School The Escuela Nacional Preparatoria ( en, National Preparatory High School) (ENP), the oldest senior High School system in Mexico, belonging to the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), opened its doors on February 1, 1868. It was founded ...

, the first secular school of higher learning in Mexico, which opened in 1868 and became the training ground for many of the younger ''Científicos''. *

Manuel Romero Rubio Manuel Romero Rubio (Mexico City, March 7, 1828 – Mexico City, October 3, 1895), was a Mexican politician and lawyer who participated in the governments of Benito Juárez, Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada and Porfirio Díaz. Education as a lawy ...

(1828–1895),

Secretary of the Interior Secretary of the Interior may refer to: * Secretary of the Interior (Mexico) * Interior Secretary of Pakistan * Secretary of the Interior and Local Government (Philippines) * United States Secretary of the Interior See also *Interior ministry An ...

from 1884 to 1895 was founding member of the group, and its original leader and protector. With his death, Limantour –his political protégé– commenced to direct the ''Científicos.'' He also was the father in law of Porfirio Díaz. *

José Yves Limantour José Yves Limantour Marquet (; 26 December 1854 – 26 August 1935) was a Mexican financier who served as Secretary of the Finance of Mexico from 1893 until the fall of the Porfirio Díaz regime in 1911. Limantour established the gold standa ...

(1854–1935), ''Ministro de Hacienda'' (Secretary of the Treasury) from 1893 until the fall of the Díaz regime in 1911; considered the political leader of the faction. * Justo Sierra, the leading intellectual and spokesman of the circle. * The writers and journalists Francisco Bulnes (1847–1924) and Emilio Rabasa (1856–1930), co-founders of the newspaper '' El Universal'' (in 1888), both considered spokesmen for the Científicos. * Enrique Creel (1854–1931), a wealthy businessman and landowner, an influential member of the powerful

Creel-Terrazas Family The Creel-Terrazas Family is a powerful and wealthy Mexican political family based in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. History During the rule of President Porfirio Díaz and the Mexican Revolution, this family was part of the ''cie ...

that dominated the northern state of

Chihuahua Chihuahua may refer to: Places * Chihuahua (state), a Mexican state **Chihuahua (dog), a breed of dog named after the state **Chihuahua cheese, a type of cheese originating in the state **Chihuahua City, the capital city of the state **Chihuahua Mu ...

, of which he was governor from 1904 until the fall of the Díaz regime in 1911. * Luis Terrazas (1829–1923), Founder of the

, father-in-law of Enrique Creel, and one of the richest landowners in the Republic of Mexico; he helped to bankroll the faction. * The lawyers Pablo Macedo and Joaquín Casasús. *Antonio V. Hernández Benavides, co-founder of the Banco Central Mexicano, senator and interim governor of Coahuila, uncle to president Francisco I. Madero. * Nemesio García Naranjo (1883–1963), who later became Secretary of Education under

Victoriano Huerta José Victoriano Huerta Márquez (; 22 December 1854 – 13 January 1916) was a general in the Mexican Federal Army and 39th President of Mexico, who came to power by coup against the democratically elected government of Francisco I. Madero wi ...

in 1913. * Emilio Pimentel, lawyer, governor of

Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the Federative Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 570 municipaliti ...

from 1902 to 1911. * Rosendo Pineda, lawyer, influential backer of Porfirio Díaz in the state of Oaxaca. * Rafael Reyes Spíndola (1860–1922), founder (in 1896) and publisher of the

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

newspaper ''

El Imparcial ''El Imparcial'', founded in 1918, was a newspaper in Puerto Rico. It circulated daily, except Sundays./ ''About El Imparcial. (San Juan, P.R.) 1918-197?.''] United States Library of Congress. Retrieved 26 July 2012. Its complete name was ''El ...

'', considered the "semi-official newspaper of the Porfiriato." There were other factions within the Díaz government that were opposed to the ''Científicos'', most notably that led by former general Bernardo Reyes.

References

Sources

* Hernández Chávez, Alicia. ''Mexico: A Brief History''. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006), p. 194. * Ruiz, Ramón Eduardo. ''Triumphs and Tragedy: A History of the Mexican People'' (New York: Norton, 1992), p. 274 * Martínez Vázquez, Víctor Raúl, editor.
La revolución en Oaxaca, 1900-1930
', p. 38.

See also

References

Sources

Further reading