Carlos Hilario Pereyra Gómez (1871–1942) was a Mexican lawyer, diplomat, writer and historian. His background was highly influenced by late 19th century

positivism Positivism is a philosophical school that holds that all genuine knowledge is either true by definition or positivemeaning '' a posteriori'' facts derived by reason and logic from sensory experience.John J. Macionis, Linda M. Gerber, ''Soci ...

, so this influence is denoted in his works. He was also a

Hispanist Hispanism (sometimes referred to as Hispanic studies or Spanish studies) is the study of the literature and culture of the Spanish-speaking world, principally that of Spain and Hispanic America. It may also entail studying Spanish language an ...

, defender of the historical and cultural legacy of Spain in

Spanish America Spanish America refers to the Spanish territories in the Americas during the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The term "Spanish America" was specifically used during the territories' Spanish Empire, imperial era between 15th and 19th centur ...

and critic of the American Interventionism policy in Latin America.

Lawyer and columnist

Pereyra was born in

Saltillo Saltillo () is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Coahuila and is also the municipal seat of the municipality of the same name. Mexico City, Monterrey, and Saltillo are all connected by a major railroad and high ...

Coahuila Coahuila, formally Coahuila de Zaragoza, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza, is one of the 31 states of Mexico. The largest city and State Capital is the city of Saltillo; the second largest is Torreón and the thi ...

, in 1871, the son of Miguel Pereyra Bosque and María de Jesús Gómez Méndez. As a lawyer, he was an ex officio defender in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, agent of '' Ministerio Público'' and member of the state treasury commission of

. He directed the newspaper ''El Espectador'' in the city of

Monterrey Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...

, collaborated in the newspaper ''El Norte'' of Chihuahua, as well as in the ''Positive Revista'' magazine, ''El Imparcial'' 'and ''El Mundo Ilustrado'' in Mexico City. Due to his positivist ideology he collaborated with

Justo Sierra Justo Sierra Méndez (January 26, 1848 – September 13, 1912), was a Mexican prominent liberal writer, historian, journalist, poet and political figure during the Porfiriato, in the second half of the nineteenth century and early twentieth ...

, but he was ideologically contrary to

Francisco Bulnes Francisco Bulnes (4 October 1847 – 22 September 1924) was a Mexican scientist, journalist, and politician who figured among the Científicos, the Mexican intelligentsia who supported the authoritarian presidency of Porfirio Díaz. He was a criti ...

Teaching, diplomat and thinker

He taught at the

National Preparatory School The Escuela Nacional Preparatoria () (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 by Gabino Barreda, M.D., following ...

and at the National School of Jurisprudence of the

University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countries. It also has 34 ...

; he was deputy and Secretary of the Mexican Embassy in Washington, in charge of business in

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

, plenipotentiary minister in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

; He was a member of International Court of Arbitration of The Hague in 1913. As a plenipotentiary minister of Mexico, he participated as a delegate of the Mexican Government in the First Congress of the International Judicial Police, the first antecedent of what is now the International Organization of the Criminal Police,

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL (abbreviated as ICPO–INTERPOL), commonly known as Interpol ( , ; stylized in allcaps), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime cont ...

, held in Montecarlo,

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

, 14–18 April 1614. He made an analysis of the relations between the United States and Mexico, he criticized the ideology of

American expansionism Manifest destiny was the belief in the 19th-century United States that American settlers were destined to expand westward across North America, and that this belief was both obvious ("''manifest''") and certain ("''destiny''"). The belief ...

, which he considered cynical and unfair, reflected his criticisms in the books devoted to the analysis of the

Monroe Doctrine The Monroe Doctrine is a foreign policy of the United States, United States foreign policy position that opposes European colonialism in the Western Hemisphere. It holds that any intervention in the political affairs of the Americas by foreign ...

. Together with the Argentine Manuel Ugarte and other Latin American thinkers, he spoke up against the growing influence of the United States in Latin America. Without considering himself an anti-liberal, he did not agree with the ideas of the

Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution () was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from 20 November 1910 to 1 December 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It saw the destruction of the Federal Army, its ...

, and criticized the revolutionary leaders

Francisco I. Madero Francisco Ignacio Madero González (; 30 October 1873 – 22 February 1913) was a Mexican businessman, revolutionary, writer and statesman, who served as the 37th president of Mexico from 1911 until he was deposed in a coup d'état in Februa ...

Pancho Villa Francisco "Pancho" Villa ( , , ; born José Doroteo Arango Arámbula; 5 June 1878 – 20 July 1923) was a Mexican revolutionary and prominent figure in the Mexican Revolution. He was a key figure in the revolutionary movement that forced ...

Venustiano Carranza José Venustiano Carranza de la Garza (; 29 December 1859 – 21 May 1920), known as Venustiano Carranza, was a Mexican land owner and politician who served as President of Mexico from 1917 until his assassination in 1920, during the Mexican Re ...

, and

Plutarco Elías Calles Plutarco Elías Calles (born Francisco Plutarco Elías Campuzano; 25 September 1877 – 19 October 1945) was a Mexican politician and military officer who served as the 47th President of Mexico from 1924 to 1928. After the assassination of Ál ...

Writer and historian

As historian, he started with his home state when he wrote ''Historia de Coahuila'', far from pronouncing himself as an indigenist or regionalist, the work aims to lean towards a

and Americanist style. The feats of Fernando de Magallanes,

Juan Sebastián Elcano Juan Sebastián Elcano (Elkano in modern Basque language, Basque; also known as ''del Cano''; 1486/1487 – 4 August 1526) was a Spaniards, Spanish navigator, ship-owner and explorer of Basques, Basque origin, ship-owner and explorer from Getaria ...

Francisco Vázquez de Coronado Francisco Vázquez de Coronado (; 1510 – 22 September 1554) was a Spanish conquistador and explorer who led a large expedition from what is now Mexico to present-day Kansas through parts of the southwestern United States between 1540 and 1542 ...

and

Pánfilo de Narváez Pánfilo de Narváez (; born 1470 or 1478, died 1528) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' and soldier in the Americas. Born in Spain, he first sailed to the island of Jamaica (then Santiago) in 1510 as a soldier. Pánfilo participated in the conque ...

are indirectly described; however, Pereyra criticized the actions of

Nuño de Guzmán Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán (1558) was a Spanish conquistador and colonial administrator in New Spain. He was the governor of the province of Pánuco (province), Pánuco from 1525 to 1533 and of Nueva Galicia from 1529 to 1534, and president of the ...

and highlighted the extermination of the indigenous population of Coahuila, which was, in comparison to other regions, a particular situation in the northeast of Mexico, which is attributed not only to the Spanish colonizers, but also to the permanent state of war between different indigenous groups, sparsely population, displacement and diseases.Pereyra, Carlos ''Op.cit.'' Biographical notes by Martín Quirarte In 1916 he settled in Spain, despite not applying for nationality, he considered this country of residence as his new homeland; He met the Venezuelan Rufino Blanco Fombona and collaborated for the ''Editorial América''. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, there was a strong anti-Spanish sentiment, mainly as result of the Spanish Black Legend, as the investigations of English-speaking historians such as Scots William Robertson, and the American William H. Prescott had caused a great impact of a negative nature towards the actions of the Spanish conquerors. Authors such as the English economist William Cunningham or the French historian

Charles Seignobos Charles Seignobos (10 September 1854 – 24 April 1942) was a French scholar of historiography and a historian who specialized in the history of the French Third Republic, and was a member of the Human Rights League. Personal life and educatio ...

severely judged the period of domination of

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...

. Pereyra set the goal of reinvigorating everything

Latin American Latin Americans (; ) are the citizenship, citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their Latin American diaspora, diasporas are Metroethnicity, ...

and Iberian, so he was given the task of reviewing the history of Spain's work in America, becoming a recognized

, to the point that it was said that "He was a Hispanist more Hispanist than the Spaniards themselves". He specialized in maritime explorations, in the foundations in America and in Latin American social life, making comparisons with the English civilization in North America. In his work he expressed his great admiration for

Vasco de Gama Vasco da Gama ( , ; – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the first European to reach India by sea. Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link Europe and Asia using an ocean route that roun ...

and

Vasco Núñez de Balboa Vasco Núñez de Balboa (; c. 1475around January 12–21, 1519) was a Spanish people, Spanish explorer, governor, and conquistador. He is best known for crossing the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean in 1513, becoming the first European to ...

. He defended the work of

Bernal Díaz del Castillo Bernal Díaz del Castillo ( 1492 – 3 February 1584) was a Spanish conquistador who participated as a soldier in the conquest of the Aztec Empire under Hernán Cortés and late in his life wrote an account of the events. As an experienced ...

from the criticisms of Robertson and Prescott. He knew how to value the different historical factors according to the time in question. The economic, political and ideological causes did not always intervene with equal intensity. Each historical time offers its peculiar dimension that must be studied without prejudices elaborated beforehand. Pereyra maintained a constant openness towards all those people who approached with the noble desire to learn. Among his students, was Vicente Rodríguez Casado, founder of the School of Hispanic-American Studies (Seville) and the Hispano-American University of Santa María de La Rábida (Huelva). In addition, he pronounced himself in favor of

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

in the maximum war between Latin American nations, the Triple Alliance War and wrote several works in this regard.

Academic and awards

He was elected a notable corresponding member of the Mexican Academy of Language. He was a member of the

Mexican Academy of History The Academia Mexicana de la Historia (''Mexican Academy of History'', also known by the acronym AMH), is a national academy in Mexico, which promotes history in Mexico. History While Antonio López de Santa Anna issued mandates to establish a Me ...

, occupied the seat 23, from 1933 to 1942. By 1934, by way of recognition, the Spanish government granted him a position in the

Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés (August 1478 – 1557), commonly known as Oviedo, was a Spanish soldier, historian, writer, botanist and colonist. Oviedo participated in the Spanish colonization of the West Indies, arriving in the first fe ...

Institute, where he worked with the Salvadoran Rodolfo Barón Castro; He made several publications in the ''Revista de Indias''. He died in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, Spain, on 29 June 1942. His widow, María Enriqueta Camarillo, gave the writer's personal library to the Institute. His remains rest in the Roundabout of the Illustrious Men of Coahuila.

Publications and works

Among his works and publications are: *''Historia de Coahuila'' (''History of Coahuila'') (1898–1904) *''De Barradas a Baudin: un libro de polémica historial'' (''From Barradas to Baudin: a book of controversial history'') (1904) *''Juárez discutido como dictador y estadista'' (''Juárez discussed as dictator and statesman'') (1904) *''Correspondencia entre los principales intervencionistas mexicanos'' (''Correspondence between the main Mexican interventionists'') (1905) *''Hernán Cortés y la epopeya de Anáhuac'' (''Hernán Cortés and the epic of Anahuac'') (1906) *''Historia del pueblo mejicano'' (''History of the Mexican people'') (1906) *''La doctrina de Monroe: El destino manifiesto y el imperialismo'' (''The Monroe Doctrine: Manifest Destiny and Imperialism'') (1908) *''El mito de Monroe'' (''The myth of Monroe'') (1914) *''Bolívar y Washington. Un paralelo imposible'' (''Bolivar and Washington. An impossible parallel'') (1915) *''Descubrimiento y conquista de Méjico'' (Ampliación al prólogo a la obra de Bernal Díaz del Castillo) (''Discovery and conquest of Mexico'') (Extension to the prologue to the work of Bernal Díaz del Castillo)) (1915) *''Tejas, la primera desmembración de Méjico'' (''Texas, the first dismemberment of Mexico'') (1917) *''Francisco Pizarro y el tesoro de Atahualpa'' (''Francisco Pizarro and the treasure of Atahualpa'') (1917) *''El crimen de Woodrow Wilson: Su contubernio con Villa.- Sus atentados en Santo Domingo.- Su régimen corruptor en Nicaragua.- Los dos polos de la diplomacia yanqui: la hipocresía y el miedo. Prólogo de Rufino Blanco-Fombona'' (''Woodrow Wilson's crime: His condemnation with Villa.- His attacks in Santo Domingo.- His corrupting regime in Nicaragua.- The two poles of Yankee diplomacy: hypocrisy and fear. Foreword by Rufino Blanco-Fombona'') (1917) *''La constitución de Estados Unidos como instrumento de dominación plutocrática'' (''The constitution of the United States as an instrument of plutocratic domination'') (1917) *''Rosas y Thiers: La diplomacia europea en el Río de la Plata, 1838–1850'' (''Rosas and Thiers: European diplomacy in the Rio de la Plata, 1838–1850'') (1919) *''Francisco Solano López y la Guerra del Paraguay'' (''Francisco Solano López and the War of Paraguay'') (1919) *''La Tercera Internacional. Doctrinas y controversias'' (''The Third International. Doctrines and controversies'') (1920) *''La conquista de las rutas oceánicas'' (''The conquest of ocean routes'') (1923) *''Historia de la América española'' (8 volúmenes) (''History of Spanish America'' (8 volumes)) (1925) *''Las huellas de los conquistadores'' (''The footsteps of the conquerors'') (1929) *''Breve historia de la América'' (''Brief history of the Americas'') (1930) *''La obra de España en América'' (''The work of Spain in America'') (1930–1944) *''El mito de Monroe, 1763–1869'' (''The myth of Monroe, 1763–1869'') (1931) *''Cartas confidenciales de la Reina María Luisa y de don Manuel Godoy'' (''Confidential letters of Queen Maria Luisa and Don Manuel Godoy'') (1935) *''Los archivos secretos de la historia'' (''The secret archives of history'') (1935) *''El fetiche constitucional americano: De Washington al segundo Roosevelt'' (''The American Constitutional Fetish: From Washington to the Second Roosevelt'') (1942) *''Quimeras y verdades en la historia]'' (''Chimeras and truths in history'') (1945) *''México falsificado'' (''Counterfeit Mexico'') (1949 posthumous edition) *Prólogo y antología de la obra de Bernal Díaz del Castillo; ''Descubrimiento y conquista de Méjico'' (Historia verdadera la conquista de la Nueva España) (Foreword and anthology of the work of Bernal Díaz del Castillo; ''Discovery and conquest of Mexico'' (True history the conquest of New Spain)) (1915) *Prólogo a la obra de Oliveria Lima, ''Formación histórica de la nacionalidad brasileña'' (Foreword to the work of Oliveria Lima, (''Historical formation of Brazilian nationality'')) (1918) *Prólogo de la obra de Othón Peust, ''La defensa nacional de México'' (Foreword to the work of Othón Peust, ''The National Defense of Mexico'') *Prólogo de la obra de Eduardo Prado, ''La ilusión yanqui'' (Foreword by Eduardo Prado's work, ''The Yankee Illusion'')

Compilations and biographies

*''Carlos Pereyra'', publication of the Ministry of Public Education (1948) *''Carlos Pereyra the man and his work'', notes and prologue by Manuel González Ramírez (1948) *''Carlos Pereyra and his work'', Ángel Dotor y Municio (1948) *''Carlos Pereyra, walking knight of history'', Mexico Historical Research Institute, Andrés Quirarte (1952) *''El historiador Carlos Pereyra y su idea de la historia'' (''The historian Carlos Pereyra and his idea of history''), Martha González Pérez (1964) *''Carlos Pereyra'', Luis Garrido (1969) *''Carlos Pereyra, historiador de América'' (''Carlos Pereyra, historian of the Americas'') Edberto Oscar Acevedo (1986) *''Carlos Pereyra'', Ramón Ezquerra Abadía (1987)

References

Bibliography in Spanish

*ARENAL Fenochio, Jaime del (1987) ''Los tres Monroe de Pereyra'' Investigaciones Jurídicas de la UNAM, texto en la web consultado el 21 de noviembre de 2009 *KOZEL, Andrés; MONTIEL, Sandra ''Carlos Pereyra y la doctrina de Monroe'',

El Colegio de México El Colegio de México, A.C. (commonly known as Colmex, English: The College of Mexico) is a Mexican institute of higher education, specializing in teaching and research in social sciences and humanities. The college was founded in 1940 by the Me ...

, texto en la web consultado el 21 de noviembre de 2009 *PEREYRA, Carlos (1930) ''Hernán Cortés'' (1971) prólogo y apuntes biográficos de Martín Quirarte; México ed. Porrúa *CARBONELL, Diego (1921). "La obra histórica de Don Carlos Pereyra". En: ''Juicios Históricos''. Rio de Janeiro: Typographia do annuario do Brasil. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pereyra, Carlos Historians of Mexico People from Saltillo Members of the Mexican Academy of Language 1871 births 1942 deaths