José Manuel Hidalgo y Esnaurrízar

José Manuel Hidalgo y Esnaurrízar (6 April 1826 – 27 December 1896) was a Mexican soldier, diplomat, and writer. He played a key role in establishing the Second Mexican Empire.

José Manuel Hidalgo y Esnaurrízar
Born6 April 1826
Mexico City, First Mexican Republic
Died27 December 1896
Paris, French Third Republic
OccupationSoldier, diplomat, novelist, political writer
Alma mater 
Notable works
  •  Las dos Condesas (1891)
  • Las Victimas del chic (1892)
  • Al Cielo por el sufrimiento (1889)
  • La Sed de Oro (1891)
  • Lelia y Marina (1894)
  • La confesión de una mundana (1896)

Biography

Hidalgo was born in 1826 to Mercedes Esnaurrizar and Francisco Manuel Hidalgo,[1] an Andalusian noble[2] and colonel that supported Augustin de Iturbide during the movement for Mexican Independence.[1]

One of his first major jobs was working under the Ministry of Finance, and in 1846 was able to serve as secretary to Manuel Eduardo de Gorostiza.

During the Mexican-American War, he fought under the command of Gorostiza at the Battle of Churubusco, and at the Battle of Contreras was wounded and taken prisoner.

He was appointed by president Manuel de la Peña y Peña to serve as a diplomat in London and was later sent to Rome. In Europe he made the acquaintance of Silvio Pellico, Giacomo Antonelli, Pope Pius IX, Queen Victoria, Pedro V, Ludwig I, and Isabel II. It was his friendship with Eugénie de Montijo, the Spanish-born wife of Napoleon III, that allowed him to lobby for French support of establishing a Mexican monarchy,[2] an effort which ultimately culminated in the Second French intervention in Mexico, and the establishment Second Mexican Empire.

After the fall of the Empire, he left Mexico for France. To supplement his income during exile he published several novels. His novels were a mixture of realism and sentimentalism dealing with the aristocracy, the nobility, and the grand bourgeoisie.[3] He died in Paris in 1896.

See also

Further reading

  • Blumberg, Arnold (1971). "The Diplomacy of the Mexican Empire, 1863-1867". Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. 61 (8): 1–152. doi:10.2307/1006015. ISSN 0065-9746. JSTOR 1006015.

References

  1. Arrangoiz y Berzábal, Francisco de Paula (1869). Apuntes para la historia del segundo Imperio Mejicano (in Spanish). p. 30.
  2. Barker, Nancy Nichols (1959). "Empress Eugenie and the Origin of the Mexican Venture". The Historian. 22 (1): 10–11. doi:10.1111/j.1540-6563.1959.tb01640.x. ISSN 0018-2370. JSTOR 24436669.
  3. Carballo, Emmanuel (2004). Ensayos selectos (in Spanish). Universidad Nacional Autonóma de México. p. 62. ISBN 9789703206827.
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