author
Ignacio Manuel Altamirano
1834–1893
A key voice in 19th-century Mexico, this novelist, journalist, teacher, and public figure helped shape the country's literary life while living through years of political change. He is especially remembered for Clemencia, often described as one of the first modern Mexican novels.
1 Audiobook
La Navidad en las Montañas
by Ignacio Manuel Altamirano
About the author
Born in Tixtla, Guerrero, in 1834, Ignacio Manuel Altamirano was of Indigenous Nahua background and learned Spanish only later in childhood. He went on to study in Toluca and built an unusually wide-ranging career as a writer, journalist, teacher, lawyer, politician, and diplomat.
Altamirano was closely linked to Mexico's liberal movement, and his public life ran alongside his literary work. He wrote novels, essays, criticism, and journalism, and he played an important part in encouraging a national literature that reflected Mexican history, society, and identity.
Among his best-known works is Clemencia (1869), which is often regarded as one of the first modern Mexican novels. He died in San Remo, Italy, in 1893, but his influence on Mexican letters and education continued long after his lifetime.