The Illustrious Yucatecans of Our Day to Day - Vol. 1

Have you ever been curious about who were the people who are honored in the monuments of Mérida? Why is an avenue named after a person? Without a doubt, they are people who made a change in Yucatán. Today I share with you a little bit about four of them; more to come.

1.- Manuel Crescencio Rejón

If its name sounds familiar to you, perhaps you have visited the airport with the support of the Google Maps assistant, since it takes its name from it (Manuel Crescencio Rejón International Airport). Born in Bolanchenticul, in 1799, today part of Campeche, he was a Mexican lawyer and politician with a long career who is recognized as the father of the amparo law. As a deputy, after the consummation of Mexican independence in 1821, he fought - among other things - for the independence of Tabasco with Yucatán and the abolition of the death penalty, as well as pensions and encomiendas, which were in the hands of the descendants of the conquerors, and for the rights of the workers and indigenous people who had been subjected. Always on the side of liberal, federal and republican ideas, he opposed the appointment of Iturbide as emperor. Upon his fall, Crescencio Rejón defended the need for a judicial branch independent of the rest of the powers.

Despite having died at just the age of 50, throughout his life he was a deputy, senator, Minister of Foreign Affairs (for more than one president), promoter of the Yucatecan constitution and, in general, a very active participant in the political life of Mexico as a young country, especially during the conflicts with the United States.

2-. Agustín O’Horán

The name of this doctor and politician (Mexican, born in Guatemala) comes up every time a famous hospital in Mérida is mentioned (in Circuito Colonias con Itzáez), but do you know who this character was? To begin with, he is the co-founder of the School of Medicine of the Autonomous University of Yucatán; He was also among the founders of the Literary Institute of Yucatán, in addition to having reorganized the Normal School of Teachers.

Agustín O'Horán was also involved in the Caste War. A Republican, like Rejón, O'Horán resigned from his position as director of the San Juan de Dios hospital (in Mejorada) during the second Mexican empire, led by Maximilian of Habsburg. Having passed those years, he served as first advisor in the government; He was interim governor of the state on several occasions, but he renounced political life to dedicate himself fully to his work as a doctor. The General Hospital of Yucatán took his name from the year of his death, 1884, by decree of the State Congress. 

3.- Manuel Berzunza y Berzunza

Another name I first heard with the arrival of Google Maps. Anti-Porfirista despite the rejections that this earned him (for example, from the Campechano Institute, where he could not study law), he was a local and federal deputy, interim governor (at 28 years old and after a modification in the law) of Yucatán before Felipe Carrillo Puerto... and a very close friend of the latter, with whom he was shot during a coup d'état. Loyal and recognized for his “social rectitude and sensitivity,” he was municipal president of Mérida at the time of his death.

Unfortunately, my research to learn about his contributions was not very fruitful, so I continue with the question of why the Mérida peripheral is named after him. However, in the magazine “El corazón de Ah' Canul” it is read that Governor Loret de Mola proposed it with the intention of “rescuing from oblivion one of the historical figures linked to Carrillo Puerto.”

4.- Rosa Torre González

Rosa Torre González Avenue (between the Xtabay monument and Hacienda Chichí Suárez) is not as well known as other points on this list, but that is because it only received its name in March of this year. Rosa Torre was a feminist, politician and teacher who participated in the Mexican Revolution from her trenches. In 1916, she participated in the First Feminist Congress of our state; in the second she was president and, in 1922, she became the first woman to hold public office by popular election in Mexico; This occurred 31 years before women gained the right to vote in our country. Despite this milestone and her career as a precursor of the fight for gender equality, for many years the date of her death was unknown for certain; It is now known that it was in 1973, at the age of 82.

As additional information, Rosa Torre collaborated in the Rita Cetina Gutiérrez League (which she established with Elvia Carrillo Puerto), fighting against drugs, prostitution, alcohol and superstition. In addition, the League taught workshops on hygiene, economics, birth control, and infant care. It is estimated that Rosa Torre contributed to the creation of 45 feminist leagues, organizing more than 5,500 workers.