Gómez Morín, Manuel (1897–1972)
Gómez Morín, Manuel (1897–1972)
A Mexican financial figure, intellectual, and opposition leader, Manuel Gómez Morín was born on February 27, 1897, in Batopilas, Chihuahua, the son of a miner. He completed a course of studies in Mexico City at the National Preparatory School (1913–1915) and legal studies at the National School of Law (1915–1918). He maintained close friendships with the "Seven Wise Men of Mexico," including Alfonso Caso, Vicente Lombardo Toledano, and Narciso Bassols. Appointed a professor in 1918, he went on to influence a generation of prominent political figures.
Gómez Morín quickly entered public life, serving as oficial mayor and undersecretary of the treasury (1919–1921). He was also a founder and first director (1925–1929) of the board of the Bank of Mexico, serving as a federal reserve. In 1923 he secretly gave financial support to the rebellion of Adolfo de la Huerta and later served as unofficial treasurer of José Vasconcelos's 1929 presidential campaign. After that he retired from public life, but two years later authored the first reform of credit institutions.
Meanwhile, Gómez Morín maintained his academic career as dean of the National Law School from 1922 to 1924. He subsequently went into private law practice and invested wisely in numerous major corporations at their founding. In 1939, disenchanted with the direction of the state, he and Efraín González Luna founded the National Action Party (PAN), which became Mexico's major opposition party until 1988. He spent his last thirty years as an investor and practitioner of law. Gómez Morín died on April 19, 1972.
See alsode la Huerta, Adolfo; Mexico, Political Parties: National Action Party (PAN).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Gómez Mont, María Teresa. Manuel Gómez Morín: La lucha por la liberated de cátedra. Mexico: UNAM, 1996.
Krauze, Enrique. Caudillos culturales en la Revolución Mexicana. Mexico: Siglo Veintiuno Editores, 1976.
Wilkie, James W. Frente de la Revolución Mexicana. Mexico: UAM, 1995.
Roderic Ai Camp