Guillermo Prieto Pradillo (1818-1897) was a Mexican writer, poet and politician, who has been considered one of the most prominent poets of his country. The importance of his work lay in the nationalist and patriotic content of his work; was named as "The quintessential Mexican poet".
Prieto's work was characterized by a simple and precise language, and also by being framed within the history and politics of Mexico. Some of the most renowned titles of the writer were Street Muse, The National Romance Y The ensign.
As for his political performance, he was part of the Liberal Party, and was also a deputy to Congress on several occasions. Prieto Pradillo was linked to the presidential government of Benito Juárez. Such was his link with the president that his famous phrase "Stop! The brave do not murder" was said when he interposed to save the life of the ruler.
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Guillermo was born on February 10, 1818 in Mexico City, he came from a traditional family. His parents were José María Prieto Gamboa and Josefa Pradillo Estañol. Although he had a quiet childhood, his adolescence was marked by the death of his father and the madness of his mother.
Prieto Pradillo attended primary education in his hometown. Then, after the loss of his father and the inability of his mother to support him, he found himself in need of work. This is how the politician Andrés Quintana Roo became his protector.
Young Guillermo was able to study at the Colegio de San Juan de Letrán thanks to the help of Quintana Roo, who also recommended him to work in customs. In 1936, when he was eighteen years old, with the help of some friends he created the literary association Academia de Letrán.
Guillermo Prieto from a very young age was attracted to literature, history and politics, so he began to cultivate his passions. It was in 1837 that he made his way into the field of letters in media such as The Mexican Mosaic Y Galván fixtures, in which he published his first verses.
In politics, he began as an official of the governments of Presidents José María Valentín Gómez Farías and Anastasio Bustamante, and also began to write in the Official diary. In 1838 he enlisted in the Military Service: it was the time of the War of the Cakes, conflict between France and Mexico.
In 1840 Guillermo Prieto Pradillo published his first prose work entitled The ensign. The following year he began to write the journalistic column "San Monday de Fidel" in the liberal daily The Nineteenth Century. He signed as Fidel the articles he wrote there, which lasted until 1896.
The writer continued to consolidate his career during the 1940s. In 1842 he published his second work written in prose called Alonso Avila, biographical in nature. In addition, he wrote for various print media, such as The Mexican Museum Y The Illustrated Weekly.
In 1843 Prieto Pradillo published The Pinganillas scare. Then two years later, he was born Don Simplicio, a liberal political newspaper with humorous features, which he founded together with the writer and journalist Ignacio Ramírez. In 1946 he participated in the United States-Mexico War.
Guillermo Prieto's political actions were aligned with liberal ideas, which he expressed in many of the newspapers where he worked. From 1852 to 1853 he served as Minister of Finance in the presidency of José Mariano Arista; at that time he published Memories of my times.
As a critic of the dictatorial government of Antonio López de Santa Anna, Prieto did not hesitate to join the Ayutla Plan, a pronouncement that took place in Guerrero on March 1, 1854 against the military. Later he was part of the presidential administration of Juan Álvarez Hurtado.
The writer was close to Benito Juárez, because he was part of his presidency. In 1858 he served as Minister of Finance, but perhaps the event that most closely linked him with the politician was when he saved him in Guadalajara from being assassinated..
According to the anecdote, Prieto Pradillo stood before the bullets, and shouted the famous phrase: "Stop! The brave do not murder." The execution order was given by Filomeno Bravo, a conservative politician. After that event, he traveled with Juárez to various countries in America..
Guillermo Prieto witnessed the War of the Reform in 1858, and even participated in the laws that were enacted to distance the church from the State. Later, from 1861 to 1863, he served as a federal deputy.
He also did politics from the pages of the newspapers The Chinaca Y The monarch, especially with satires against the second intervention of the French on Mexican soil. At that time he was appointed as Postmaster and took charge of the Official diary.
Although Prieto Pradillo supported Benito Juárez's policy, he did not agree with his continuing in power. It was for that reason that in 1866 he joined the politician Jesús González Ortega to carry out actions that put an end to the government of Juárez.
However, the objective was not given because the conflict with the French persisted. So out of fear of reprisals, the writer decided to go into exile in the United States, and upon his return he rejoined political life as a deputy. He also made propaganda to prevent Juárez from continuing to govern.
Literature and politics were always present in Guillermo's life. In 1871 he began to write for magazines The Bucaro Y On Sunday. At that time he sympathized with the government of José María Iglesias, and also for short periods of time he held various ministerial positions.
Prieto Pradillo also served politically during the Porfirio Díaz government. From 1880 to 1896 he was a deputy to the Congress of the Union. He did all this alongside his work as a writer: the pages of newspapers such as The Republican Y The universal served to capture his thoughts.
Prieto Pradillo's life began to deteriorate due to a heart disease, and for this reason he moved to Cuernavaca. Then he died in Mexico City in the town of Tacubaya on March 2, 1897. His remains rest in the Rotunda of Illustrious Persons..
The literary style of the Mexican writer was characterized by the use of a simple, clear and precise language, as well as well elaborated and humorous. His work had features of the current of romanticism. He also developed a theme focused on the customs, history, culture and characters of his country.
His eagerness to describe in detail the qualities of each town, of each one of the customs of the inhabitants (emphasizing the details regarding clothing and food), gave him a place of honor among the romantic and regionalist writers of his time..
- The ensign (1840).
- Alonso de Avila (1842).
- The Pinganillas scare (1843).
- Memories of my times (1853).
- Travel of the highest order (1857).
- An excursion to Jalapa in 1875.
- Travel to the United States (1877-1878).
- Homeland and honor.
- The bride of the treasury.
- History compendium.
- To my father.
- Unpublished verses (1879).
- Street muse (1883).
- The national romance (1885).
- Selected poetry collection (1895-1897).
- Dictionary of history and geography (1848). The work was developed in collaboration with the historian Manuel Orozco y Berra.
- Notes for the history of the war between Mexico and the United States (1848).
- Elementary Lessons in Political Economy (1871).
- Brief introduction to the study of world history (1884).
- Lessons from homeland history (1886).
- Brief notions of political economy (1888).
It was one of the best known poetic works of the author. This was due to the connection with the Mexican people. In the verses the humor of the author was noted, as well as the enjoyment of simplicity. Prieto put aside irony and sarcasm to focus on dreams and joy.
In the work the writer described typical Mexican environments, as well as certain characteristics of its inhabitants. For example: fairs, landscapes, traditions, popular words and people came to life in a typical and idealistic way..
"Long live the decent people!
Long live probity!
and until the last relative
is hero and dignity,
out of certain present
which was due to friendship.
Mentecatos!
If it is not the same to eat
what to throw away with the dishes.
I am liberal, -not cakes;
more canary! - if there is pitanza,
let the tinsel come,
and, boys, to the dance.
Are these the faithful cigars?
What a Robespier of joke ".
Prieto Pradillo expressed in this poetic work his personal joy and that of the people of Mexico for the acts of independence that led them to be free. He was inspired by poems of this type written by Spanish authors. The verses were structured in octosyllables.
"... And giving a thousand screams
the unhappy Migajita,
he pulled out his hair,
and howling he writhed.
Suddenly the screaming stops,
suddenly it was fixed:
the speakers approached,
they find it lifeless and cold,
and the silence is destined
turning night into day.
In the Pantheon of Dolores,
away in the last row,
between some wooden crosses
new or half rotten,
there is a raised cross
polished stonework,
and in it the name of Ronco,
'Arizpe José Marías',
and the foot, in a pile of dirt,
half covered with nettles,
without anyone suspecting it
the Migajita rests,
flower of the neighborhood of La Palma
and envy of the catrinas ".
“… The silent and deserted streets in which the precipitous footsteps of someone running in search of aid resounded at a distance; the yellow, black and white banners that served to warn of illness, doctors, priests and charity houses ... At a great distance the lugubrious screeching of cars that passed through full of corpses ... all that is reproduced today in my memory with colors very alive and they make me shudder ".
"Echo without a voice that leads
the hurricane that moves away,
wave that wanders reflects
to the star that shines;
I remember that it seduces me
with delusions of joy;
loving melody
vibrating with tender crying,
What do you say to my distress,
what do you love me, who sent you?
... There are more shadows in the soul,
more wrinkles on the forehead.
... Although this effort enters
how painful I moan
the hope of an arrimo,
of a compliment in a dream,
if of me not being the owner
smile free you see me,
I beg you to remember
that I am in pain surrendered ...
Come in ... leave me asleep ...
come in ... don't wake me up! ".
- "I love you, yes, I adore you, although my lip a thousand and a thousand times called you perjury, although the horrendous cup of injury gave me the pleasures your beauty, my heart loves you".
- “The passions dragged me; there is no god, my lips said, and my eyes were offended for eternity with the light ".
- "Sweet is the man in his painful duel, when the persistent torment terrifies him, to say mocking the mean land: 'There is my homeland' and to point to the sky".
- "What does it matter if they threaten me fiercely, or that humans moan, if I tear nightingale from their hands the cup of pleasure?.
- "Our noble intelligence never perishes, that pure souls will forever reflect in the heights the brilliance of omnipotence anguish".
- “Hero, monarch, tear from your lip the cry of horrifying pride; your ash is the same as the ash of the unhappy shepherd ".
- "I already contemplate the brave warrior who, even in dreams, his struggling hand, seeks uncertain, eager, the sword to wound the proud invader".
- "Man: How do you surrender to the deep dream, of the beach in your life lying down, if the lightest wind, the rising sea has to envelop your body?".
- "If they try to step on our soil, let us bury their lives in the sea, and in the waves, stained with blood, the reflection of the sun will appear opaque".
- "The charming and delicate flower that swayed on a slender stem, the light of a single day saw it proudly, then it disappeared".
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