Zavala, Silvio (1909–)

Silvio Zavala (b. 7 February 1909), Mexican historian known for his work on the economic history of sixteenth-century Mexico, the political philosophy of the Spanish Conquest, and the nature of colonial economic institutions. Born in Mérida, Yucatán, he received a doctorate in law from the Universidad Central de Madrid in 1931. Zavala founded and served as director of the Revista de historia de América (1938–1965). He was also director of the National History Museum (1946–1954) and president of the Historical Commission of the Pan-American Institute of Geography and History (1947–1965). Zavala founded and was director of the Centro de Estudios Históricos at El Colegio de México (1940–1956) and was president of the college from 1963 to 1966. On the diplomatic front, he represented Mexico as permanent delegate to the United Nations for Education, Science and Culture (1956–1963) and as ambassador to France (1966–1975).

Zavala's scholarly work includes a pioneering study on the nature of the colonial labor systems, La encomienda indiana (1935), and one on colonial law, Las instituciones jurídicas en la conquista de América (1935). He published eight volumes of documents on labor, Fuentes para la historia del trabajo en Nueva España (1939–1946). His work is wide-ranging and includes Francisco del Paso y Troncoso: Su misión en Europa, 1892–1916 (1938) and other substantial contributions to the study of colonial institutions in Spanish America.

See alsoPan-American Institute of Geography and History; United Nations.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

François Chevalier, "Silvio Zavala, primer historiador de la América hispano indígena, el caso del trabajo de la tierra," in Historia Mexicana 39, no. 153 (1989): 21-32.

Silvio Zavala, "Apreciación sobre el historiador frente a la historia," in El historiador frente a la historia, by Horacio Crespo et al. (1992), pp. 47-56.

Additional Bibliography

Colegio de Sinaloa. 2 historiadores dos: Silvio Zavala, Miguel León-Portilla: homenaje de El Colegio de Sinaloa. Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico: El Colegio de Sinaloa, 2005.

Colegio Nacional (Mexico). Biobibliografía de Silvio Zavala. Mexico City: El Colegio Nacional, 1999.

                          Carmen Ramos-EscandÓn