Jose Maria Luis Mora was a Mexican politician, historian and priest who developed his career during the first half of the 19th century. His books, political contributions and journalistic articles have made him considered one of the fathers of liberalism in Mexico..
Doctor of Theology from the Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico, Mora began his working life as a professor of philosophy. In addition, he soon became known for his articles in several of the most important publications of the time, such as El Sol, La Libertad, El Observador or el Indicador. His writings against Agustín de Iturbide led to his imprisonment.
Among the political positions he held are that of deputy for the Local Congress of the State of Mexico and deputy in the National Congress for the state in Guanajuato. With the arrival of Valentín Gómez Farias to the presidency, José María Luis Mora served as presidential advisor. His main contribution was the attempt to wrest the Church's monopoly on education.
His literary work was not too extensive, but it is considered of high quality. Mora was the author of Mexico and its revolutions, Loose works, Political Catechism of the Mexican Federation Y Discourse on the nature and application of ecclesiastical income and property.
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José María Servín de la Mora Díaz Madrid was born in San Francisco de Chamacuero (today Comonfort), in the state of Guanajuato, in October 1794. The boy was baptized on the 12th of that same month, a few days after his birth..
Later, this thinker decided to change some elements of his baptismal name. Thus, Luis added and removed the "de la", as he considered it too aristocratic.
His family, Creole, was quite wealthy, although during the War of Independence he lost almost all his assets.
The young José María began his education in Querétaro and, later on, moved to the capital of the viceroyalty to enter the Colegio de San Ildefonso. In that prestigious institution, he studied law.
Despite the fact that his ideas were already liberal, Mora showed a marked religious vocation. This led him to graduate in theology in 1818 and, two years later, he received his doctorate in the same subject from the Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico. It was at those times that he was ordained a priest, whose exercise he would later abandon.
His good results as a student earned José María Luis Mora his first job, that of professor of philosophy. At the same time, he began to publish articles in La Libertad, El Observador and El Sol.
In 1821, after Mexico achieved independence, Mora became even more involved in the political life of the country. In the first place, he took charge of the writing of the Political and Libertarian Weekly, a publication in which he showed his liberal ideas.
The following year the first elections were held in the country and Mora was appointed as a member of the Provincial Council of Mexico. From that position and through his articles, he expressed his rejection of Agustín de Iturbide when he had himself proclaimed emperor..
His criticisms cost him being persecuted by the Iturbide government. First he had to go into hiding and, later, he was arrested and sent to the convent of Carmen.
Mora was not released until the fall of the Iturbide empire, in March 1823. After this, he showed his opposition to the Second Constituent Congress being held, as well as to the establishment of a federal system..
His political career continued when he was elected deputy to the constituent legislature of the State of Mexico. From that position, Mora promoted the drafting of the constitution of that state, the Finance Law and the Laws of the Town Halls.
On the other hand, in 1827, he joined Freemasonry, specifically in the group of Yorkinos, with whom he began to write El Observador.
Since 1828, the political life of José María Luis Mora was linked to the figure of Valentín Gómez Farías. Among his achievements are the drafting of several laws of great social content, among which stood out those that limited privileges to the Church.
In 1833, Mora was elected a member of the National Congress for the state of Guanajuato. His work was focused on combating the political power that the Church had assumed since colonial times, as well as reforming the country's educational system..
When Gómez Farias lost the presidency, Mora had to go into exile in Paris. There he suffered many needs and had to lead an almost miserable life. However, he never abandoned his literary tasks.
José María Luis Mora returned to politics when Gómez Farías regained the presidency on a provisional basis in 1846. The following year, he left Paris for London, where he served as Minister Plenipotentiary of Mexico to Great Britain..
His work in London did not last long. When the consumption he suffered worsened, he had to return to Paris fleeing the climate of the English capital.
The Mexican politician, historian and philosopher did not recover from his illness and died in Paris on July 14, 1850..
Thirteen years later, his remains were deposited in the Rotunda of Illustrious Men in Mexico City..
José María Luis Mora was one of the most important representatives of liberalism in Mexico during the first half of the 19th century, to the point that many consider him one of the fathers of this current. His ideas led him to defend, among other initiatives, that the Church should stop taking care of education.
This politician went ahead with his proposals, which were later called by Mexican historiography as the pre-Reformation, those of the Reformation. His great oratory, as well as his vast historical and political knowledge allowed him to play a prominent role in his time.
Mora was one of the deputies elected during the constituent legislature of the state of Mexico. From that position, he promoted measures such as the Finance Law, the Laws of the Town Halls and the drafting of the state constitution..
Mora always defended the need to separate the education of the clergy and that all Mexicans could access it. For him, teaching was a fundamental tool to transform the civic consciousness of future generations.
These ideas were attacked by the conservatives, totally contrary to those renovating ideas. However, Mora was able to develop an avant-garde study plan and found the College of Ideology, an institution with the intention of reorienting the Mexican mentality in a rational way..
Despite the fact that Mora had received theological training and had even been ordained a priest, he maintained a very firm stance against the political and ideological power of the Church..
In 1834, during the presidency of Valentín Gómez Farías, Mora proposed a constitutional reform to include the Church-State separation.
In his own words, the confusion between the two institutions "supposes the civil power invested with ecclesiastical functions and the ecclesiastical power with civil functions, and it is time to make this monstrous mixture disappear, origin of so many disputes".
Given this, his proposal consisted of turning the Church into an organ of the state, secularizing its assets and converting members of the clergy into public officials with salaries in charge of the government..
The two most famous books by José María Luis Mora were Mexico and its revolutions, published in 1836, and Loose works, whose two volumes were published in 1838.
Before those two works, Mora published two other notable works: Political Catechism of the Mexican Federation (1831) and Discourse on the nature and application of ecclesiastical income and property, considered the best work on this subject in all of America.
In this work, Mora carried out a tour and analysis on republican values and religious tolerance. In addition, they showed their opposition to the privileges that some social classes had, especially the clergy and the military..
Mora began to gather material to write this work in 1828. Finally, he began to write it in 1830.
According to his plan, the book should have a first statistical part that reflected the general condition of the country and of each of its states and territories; and a second part that recounted the history of Mexico from the conquest by the Spanish to the government of Santa Anna.
However, Mora failed to accomplish what she had planned. Finally, the work only had a first volume in which the situation, physical structure, extension and natural products of Mexico were treated; mining, commerce and industry during the Spanish viceroyalty; its political and social organization; and its foreign relations and income.
The second volume was never published, while the third dealt with the conquest and attempts to establish independence. Finally, the fourth volume told the history of the country from the declaration of independence to the death of José María Morelos.
The two volumes into which this work was divided are considered the most valuable document for understanding the ideology and personality of its author..
As Mora himself wrote about The works, these "are the history of my thoughts, my desires, my principles of conduct".
In addition to his books, José María Luis Mora published throughout his life a large number of political articles in various written media..
In 1821 he was in charge of the writing of the newspaper Semanario Político y Literario de México for a year. It was then that he began to make his liberal ideas public..
Later, from 1827 to 1830, he published articles in The Observer of the Mexican Republic. Starting in 1833, he wrote in El Indicador de la Federación Mexicana, where he presented his reformist ideological program.
Apart from the previous ones, Mora also collaborated with publications such as El Sol and La Libertad.
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