Héctor Fix-Zamudio is a Mexican

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 jurist

Jurist

A jurist or jurisconsult is a professional who studies, develops, applies, or otherwise deals with the law. The term is widely used in American English, but in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries it has only historical and specialist usage...

.

Professional career

Fix-Zamudio studied law at the National Autonomous University of Mexico

National Autonomous University of Mexico

The Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México is a university in Mexico. UNAM was founded on 22 September 1910 by Justo Sierra as a liberal alternative to the Roman Catholic-sponsored Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico The Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) (National Autonomous...

 (UNAM), earning his bachelor's degree in 1956 and his doctorate (magna cum laude) in 1972. From 1945 to 1964 he held various positions within the Mexican judiciary, culminating with a position as clerk to the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation

Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation

The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation is the highest federal court in the United Mexican States. It consists of a President of the Supreme Court and ten Ministers who are confirmed by the Senate from a list proposed by the President of the Republic.Justices of the SCJN serve for fifteen...

. In 1964 he accepted a full-time research position at the UNAM's Legal Research Institute (Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas), then known as the Institute of Comparative Law (Instituto de Derecho Comparado). He also served as the Institute's director from 1966 to 1978. In 1981 he was elected to the UNAM's Governing Board (Junta de Gobierno), serving until 1988.

In 1974 he was chosen as the first president of the Ibero-American Constitutional Law Institute, a position he held until 2002 when he was named honorary president. He was elected to serve as a judge on the Inter-American Court of Human Rights

Inter-American Court of Human Rights

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights is an autonomous judicial institution based in the city of San José, Costa Rica. Together with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, it makes up the human rights protection system of the Organization of American States , which serves to uphold and...

 from 1987 to 1997, including two terms as its president. He served on the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities

Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights

The Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights was a think tank of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights...

 from 1998 to 2001. He has been a member of the Consultative Council of the National Human Rights Commission

National Human Rights Commission (Mexico)

Mexico's National Human Rights Commission is the national human rights institution accredited at the United Nations with 'A' status by the International Co-ordinating Committee of NHRIs . It is a member of the Network of National Institutions in the Americas, one of four regional groups within...

 since 1998.

Awards and recognitions

On 23 October 1974 he was elected to the Colegio Nacional

Colegio Nacional

The National College is a Mexican honorary academy with a strictly limited membership created by presidential decree in 1943 in order to bring together the country's foremost artists and scientists, who are periodically invited to deliver lectures and seminars in their respective area of speciality...

. The awards he has won include the National Prize for History, Social Science and Philosophy

National Science and Arts Prize

The National Prize for Arts and Sciences is awarded annually by the Government of Mexico in six categories. It was established in 1945...

 (1982), the National Jurisprudence Prize, awarded in 1994 by the Mexican Bar Association (1994), and the Senate

Senate of Mexico

The Senate of the Republic, constitutionally Chamber of Senators of the Honorable Congress of the Union After a series of reforms during the 1990s, it is now made up of 128 senators:...

's Belisario Domínguez Medal of Honour in 2002.
In 1986 he was awarded the UNESCO Prize for Human Rights Education

UNESCO Prize for Human Rights Education

The UNESCO/Bilbao Prize for the Promotion of a Culture of Human Rights, created in 1978 as the UNESCO Prize for Human Rights Education to mark the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, serves to honour the efforts of organizations or individuals that have...

, and he later served on the jury for that prize for four years from 1988 to 1991.

In recognition of his work in the field, the UNAM's Legal Research Institute currently awards the annual Héctor Fix-Zamudio International Prize for Legal Research.

Publications

Fix-Zamudio has published 20 books on legal topics, including amparo

Amparo (law)

The writ of amparo is a remedy for the protection of constitutional rights, found in certain jurisdictions...

, constitutional law

Constitutional law

Constitutional law is the body of law which defines the relationship of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the legislature and the judiciary....

and human rights.