José Revueltas Sánchez (November 20, 1914 in

Santiago Papasquiaro Santiago Papasquiaro is a city located in a valley situated on the eastern slopes of the Sierra Madre Occidental in the state of Durango, Mexico. As of 2010, the city of Santiago Papasquiaro had a population of 26,121, while the municipality has a ...

Durango Durango (), officially named Estado Libre y Soberano de Durango ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Durango; Tepehuán: ''Korian''; Nahuatl: ''Tepēhuahcān''), is one of the 31 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated i ...

– April 14, 1976 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 of ...

) was a Mexican writer, essayist, and political activist. He was part of an important artistic family that included his siblings Silvestre (composer), Fermín (painter) and Rosaura (actress).

Biography

Early life

José Revueltas Sánchez was born on November 20, 1914 in

. In 1920, the family relocated to

, first to the

colonia Roma Colonia Roma, also called La Roma or simply, Roma, is a district located in the Cuauhtémoc borough of Mexico City just west of the city's historic center, and in fact is no longer a single '' colonia'' (neighbourhood) but now two officially d ...

and then to

colonia Doctores Colonia Doctores (''English: Doctors' Colony'') is an official neighborhood just southwest of the historic center of Mexico City. It is bordered by Avenida Cuauhtémoc to the west, across from Belen Street to the north, Eje Central to the east a ...

. He studied at the Colegio Alemán until the fourth grade and finished his primary education in public school. The family entered an economic crisis after the death of his father In 1923. He left school in 1925, but continued through self-education in the

Biblioteca Nacional Biblioteca Nacional (Spanish or Portuguese: ''National Library'') may refer to: *Biblioteca Nacional de Chile, in Chile *Biblioteca Nacional de España, in Spain * Biblioteca Nacional del Perú, in Peru *Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal, in Portugal ...

Political Activism

Revueltas joined the

Mexican Communist Party The Mexican Communist Party ( es, Partido Comunista Mexicano, PCM) was a communist party in Mexico. It was founded in 1917 as the Socialist Workers' Party (, PSO) by Manabendra Nath Roy, a left-wing Indian revolutionary. The PSO changed its nam ...

in 1928, but was expelled in 1943 for his criticisms of the organization's bureaucratic practices and for his critique of the Mexican Left, ''Mexico'': ''Ensayo de un proletariado sin cabeza'' (Essay About a Headless Proletariat). He founded the

Liga Espartaquista Liga or LIGA may refer to: People * Līga (name), a Latvian female given name * Luciano Ligabue, more commonly known as Ligabue or ''Liga'', Italian rock singer-songwriter Sports * Liga ACB, men's professional basketball league in Spain * Lig ...

(Spartacist League) and the Partido Popular Socialista (Popular Socialist Party, or PPS), from which he also was expelled for questioning and criticizing the Left.

Imprisonment

Authorities arrested Revueltas for his participation in a political "riot" in the

Zócalo The Zócalo () is the common name of the main square in central Mexico City. Prior to the colonial period, it was the main ceremonial center in the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan. The plaza used to be known simply as the "Main Square" or "Arms Squ ...

in 1929. He was accused of sedition and rioting and sent to the maximum-security penal colony

Islas Marías The Islas Marías ("Mary Islands") are an archipelago of four islands that belong to Mexico. They are located in the Pacific Ocean, some off the coast of the state of Nayarit and about southeast of the tip of Baja California. They are part of t ...

. He was freed on bail after six months. He was again incarcerated in Islas Marías from July to November 1932, and again in 1934 for organizing a strike among agrarian peasants in Camarón,

Nuevo León Nuevo León () is a state in the northeast region of Mexico. The state was named after the New Kingdom of León, an administrative territory from the Viceroyalty of New Spain, itself was named after the historic Spanish Kingdom of León. With ...

. He was again imprisoned in 1958 for his participation in the Railwaymen's Movement. In 1968 he was accused of being the "intellectual author" of the student movement that culminated in the

Tlatelolco massacre On October 2, 1968 in the Tlatelolco section of Mexico City, the Mexican Armed Forces opened fire on a group of unarmed civilians in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas who were protesting the upcoming 1968 Summer Olympics. The Mexican government an ...

, so he was arrested and sent to the

Palacio de Lecumberri The Palacio de Lecumberri is a large building, formerly a prison, in the northeast of Mexico City, Mexico, which now houses the General National Archive (''Archivo General de la Nación''). Known in popular culture as ''The Black Palace of Lecumb ...

prison (aka The Black Palace), where he wrote one of his more popular books: ''El apando'' (The Punishment Cell) (A. Revueltas 1998; Valle, Alvárez Garín, and J. Revueltas 1970). ''Translated from the Spanish Wikipedia article.''

Death & Memorial

Revueltas died on April 14, 1976. The official cause of death was post-cardiac arrest. A memorial for Revueltas was held at the

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México 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 bigge ...

. Secretary of Public Education Victor Bravo Ahuja attended on behalf of President Luis Echeverría, Ahuja was encouraged to leave by Professor Martín Dosal, who had been imprisoned with Revueltas. President

Andrés Manuel López Obrador Andrés Manuel López Obrador (; born 13 November 1953), also known by his initials AMLO, is a Mexican politician who has been serving as the 65th president of Mexico since 1 December 2018. He previously served as Head of Government of Mex ...

announced in 2021 that the former prison where Revueltas was held would be rehabilitated as the environmental and cultural education center "Muros de Agua-José Revueltas".

Writings

*''Los muros de agua'' (1941) *''El luto humano'' (1943) Published in English as ''Human Mourning'' and also as ''The Stone Knife'' *''Dios en la tierra'' (1944) *''Los días terrenales'' (1949) *''Los errores'' (1964) *''El apando'' (1969) Published in English as ''The Hole'' *''México 68: Juventud Y Revolución'' (1968–1972)

References

Sources

*Revueltas, Andrea. 1998. "José Revueltas y el 68. (escritor mexicano)." ''Siempre! ''45, no. 2363 (October): 58–60. *Revueltas, Rosaura. 1980. ''Los Revueltas: Biografía de una familia''. México: Editorial Grijalbo. *Sáinz, Gustavo, et al. 1977. ''Conversaciones con José Revueltas''. Introduction by Jorge Ruffinelli, bibliography of works by and about José Revueltas by Marilyn R. Frankenthaler. (Cuadernos de texto crítico 3). Veracruz: Universidad Veracruzana, Centro de Investigaciones Lingüístico-Literarias. *Slick, Sam L. 1983. ''José Revueltas''. Edited by Luis Davila. Twayne's world authors series 683. Boston: Twayne Publishers. *Valle, Eduardo, Raúl Álvarez Garín, and José Revueltas. 1970. ''Los procesos de México 68; tiempo de hablar''. México: Editorial Estudiantes.

External links

The Afterlife of Cotton:, On José Revueltas
{{DEFAULTSORT:Revueltas, Jose 1914 births 1976 deaths Writers from Durango People from Santiago Papasquiaro Mexican communists Mexican male writers