Gamboa Iglesias, Federico (1864–1930)

Federico Gamboa Iglesias (b. 22 December 1864; d. 15 August 1930), Mexican public figure and intellectual, a major essayist for Mexican and international newspapers. A multifaceted intellectual whose contributions ranged from fiction to plays, he documented Mexican intellectual life in his major five-volume memoir Mi diario. He also supported intellectual activities by providing important leadership to the prestigious Mexican Academy of Language from 1923 to 1939.

Born in the capital, the son of General Manuel Gamboa, the governor of Jalisco, and Lugarda Iglesias, the sister of the leading Liberal politician José María Iglesias, he studied in New York City and then attended the National School of Law. After joining the Foreign Service in 1888, he served in numerous posts in Latin America and the United States. He was a federal deputy from Chihuahua before representing Mexico as minister to the Netherlands (1911–1912). He became undersecretary of foreign relations (1908–1910) and rose to secretary under Victoriano Huerta in 1913. Discredited as a public official for his service under Huerta, Gamboa was in exile from 1914 to 1919.

See alsoJournalism; Mexico: Since 1910.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Alberto María Carreño, La Academia Mexicana correspondiente de la Española, 1875–1945 (1946).

Federico Gamboa, Diario de Federico Gamboa, 1892–1939 (1977).

Additional Bibliography

Gutiérrez, Harim B. En el país de la tristeza: Las misiones diplomáticas de Federico Gamboa en Guatemala. México: Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores, Dirección General del Acervo Histórico Diplomático, 2005.

Prendes, Manuel. "Cerca del mundanal ruido: Una interpretación romántica de Federico Gamboa." Literatura Mexicana 15:1 (2004): 37-52.

Sedycias, João. The Naturalistic Novel of the New World: A Comparative Study of Stephen Crane, Aluísio Azevedo, and Federico Gamboa. Lanham: University Press of America, 2005.

                                    Roderic Ai Camp