PARES | Spanish Archives

Identification

Type:

Person

Preferred form:

Zavala, Silvio (1909-2014)Other forms

Fechas de existencia:

Mérida (Yucatán, México) 1909-02-07 - Ciudad de México (México) 2014-12-04

History:

He was a historian, writer and a Mexican diplomat. He was son of Arturo Zavala Castillo and Mercedes Vallado Garcia.

He graduated in the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters in the Autonomous University of Mexico. He was doctor of law from the Universidad Central de Madrid.

He was a Lifetime full member of the National School of his country since 1947 and a visiting professor at universities and institutions of great prestige in Europe and America. He also was Professor Emeritus at the College of Mexico since 1981. He edited the magazine “Historia de América” (History of America), which was founder, the National Museum of History of Chapultepec, the Mexican Historical Library and the Centre for Historical Studies of Mexico.

He was a member of institutions such as the Mexican Academy of Language, the Mexican Academy of History and the National College, as well as President of the College of Mexico. Between 1956 and 1963, he was permanent delegated of Mexico in the UNESCO and Ambassador of Mexico in France between 1966 and 1975.

Among his many distinctions, it is important to include the National Prize of Sciences and Arts of Mexico in 1969, the Prince of Asturias of Social Sciences Award in 1993. He was in possession of the French Legion of Honor and the Great Cross of Alfonso X and the Isabel la Católica, among other decorations.