Edmundo O'Gorman (24 November 1906 in

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 ...

– 28 September 1995 in Mexico City) was a Mexican writer, historian and philosopher. He is considered as being among the earlier and most influential applicants of

historical revisionism In historiography, historical revisionism is the reinterpretation of a historical account. It usually involves challenging the orthodox (established, accepted or traditional) views held by professional scholars about a historical event or times ...

to commonly held narratives regarding the Spanish colonial period in Latin America.

Early life and education

O'Gorman was born in Coyoacán, in the southern part of Mexico City. He was the son of painter and

mining engineer Mining in the engineering discipline is the extraction of minerals from underneath, open pit, above or on the ground. Mining engineering is associated with many other disciplines, such as mineral processing, exploration, excavation, geology, a ...

Cecil Crawford O'Gorman, an Irishman who emigrated to Mexico in 1895, and the great-great-nephew of the first British consul to Mexico City, Charles O'Gorman, who later married a Mexican citizen. He was the younger brother of celebrated architect and painter

Juan O'Gorman Juan O'Gorman (July 6, 1905 – January 17, 1982) was a Mexican painter and architect. Early life and family Juan O'Gorman was born on 6 July 1905 in Coyoacán, then a village to the south of Mexico City and now a borough of the Federal Distri ...

. He graduated with a degree in

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

(1928) from the Escuela Libre de Derecho. In 1940 he began lecturing in the

Philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...

faculty of the Mexico City College. In 1948 he obtained a Masters in

and in 1951 he completed his doctorate in

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

with ''summa cum laude'' honorific distinction from the

National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...

(UNAM). While at UNAM, he was at the university's Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, and a researcher at the university's Institute of Historical Research. During his time at UNAM, O'Gorman met and developed relationships with distinguished Mexican intellectuals and Spanish refugees, such as

José Gaos José Gaos (26 December 1900, Gijón, Spain – 10 June 1969, Mexico City) was a Spanish philosopher who obtained political asylum in Mexico during the Spanish Civil War and became one of the most important Mexican philosophers of the 20th cen ...

, who would greatly influence his later works. O'Gorman also lectured at the Universidad Iberoamericana.

Career

Between 1938 and 1952, O'Gorman worked for the Mexican General National Archive. He became a member of the Mexican Academy of the Spanish Language in 1969 and the Mexican Academy of the Corresponding History of the Real of Madrid, corporation of which he was a director from 1972 to 1987. He resigned after disagreements over concepts such as the "discovery of America", "encounter between two worlds", "cultural fusion" (or "natural mixing"), names he rejected and instead preferred the terms "empowerment", "domination" and others more according with history. O'Gorman was the author of several historical texts between 1951 and 1986. O'Gorman published his first works and studies in the "Alcancía" along with his close friend Justino Fernández. He was a great admirer of authors such as

José Ortega y Gasset José Ortega y Gasset (; 9 May 1883 – 18 October 1955) was a Spanish philosopher and essayist. He worked during the first half of the 20th century, while Spain oscillated between monarchy, republicanism, and dictatorship. His philosoph ...

Wilhelm Dilthey Wilhelm Dilthey (; ; 19 November 1833 – 1 October 1911) was a German historian, psychologist, sociologist, and hermeneutic philosopher, who held G. W. F. Hegel's Chair in Philosophy at the University of Berlin. As a polymathic philosopher, w ...

Benedetto Croce Benedetto Croce (; 25 February 1866 – 20 November 1952) was an Italian idealist philosopher, historian, and politician, who wrote on numerous topics, including philosophy, history, historiography and aesthetics. In most regards, Croce was a li ...

Martin Heidegger Martin Heidegger (; ; 26 September 188926 May 1976) was a German philosopher who is best known for contributions to phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. He is among the most important and influential philosophers of the 20th centu ...

, among other history writers who kept disagreement with former Mexican historiography, which was full of extremism and with a leaning towards new, unedited documents. ''Op.cit.'' p.690

Achievements

*Premio Nacional de Letras in (1974) *Premio Historia Rafael Heliodoro Valle (1983) *Premio UNAM a la Docencia (1986). *Member of the Academia Mexicana de la Historia (1964). *Member of the Academia Mexicana de la Lengua (1969). *Received honoris causa Ph. Ds at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México y de la Universidad Iberoamericana. *Emeritus professor of the

Sistema Nacional de Investigadores Sistema Nacional de Investigadores (National System of Researchers) or SNI is a governmental agency established in Mexico in 1984 to promote both the quantity and quality of research in Mexico, especially in the sciences. In the 1980s, the countr ...

and the UNAM y member of the Junta de Gobierno. *Led the Academia Mexicana de la Historia (1972–1987).

Books

* '' Destierro de Sombras'' (1986) * '' La incógnita de la llamada "Historia de los indios de la Nueva España", atribuida a Fray Toribio Motolinia'' (1982) * '' México el trauma de su historia'' (1977) * '' Guías de las actas del cabildo de la ciudad de México. Siglo XVI'' (1970) * ''

50 años de revolución 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. It has attained significance throughout history in part because typical humans have five digits on ...

'' (1962) * ''

La supervivencia política novohispana LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...

'' (1961) * '' Invención de América'' (1958) * '' Coautor de Precedentes y sentido de la revolución de Ayutla'' (1954) * ''

Fundamentos de la historia de América ''Fundamentos'' (Portuguese: ''Foundations'') was a cultural and literary magazine published in São Paulo, Brazil, from 1948 to 1955. The magazine was close to the Brazilian Communist Party. History and profile ''Fundamentos'' was established ...

'' (1951) * ''

Dos concepciones de la tarea histórica DOS is shorthand for the MS-DOS and IBM PC DOS family of operating systems. DOS may also refer to: Computing * Data over signalling (DoS), multiplexing data onto a signalling channel * Denial-of-service attack In computing, a denial-of- ...

'' (1951)

References

External links

Profile
at the Mexican Academy of the Spanish Language * https://txarchives.org/utlac/finding_aids/00047.xml
Irish-Mexican brothers: Edmundo and Juan O'Gorman
at the Society for Irish Latin American Studies. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ogorman, Edmundo 1906 births 1995 deaths Writers from Mexico City Mexican people of Irish descent National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni Members of the Mexican Academy of Language 20th-century Mexican historians 20th-century Mexican lawyers 20th-century Mexican male writers 20th-century Mexican philosophers