Manuel Gómez Morín
Encyclopedia
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...
politician. He was a founding member of the National Action Party
National Action Party (Mexico)
The National Action Party , is one of the three main political parties in Mexico. The party's political platform is generally considered Centre-Right in the Mexican political spectrum. Since 2000, the President of Mexico has been a member of this party; both houses have PAN pluralities, but the...
, and one of its theoreticians. Prior to this he was considered a leading figure in Mexican monetary policy
Monetary policy
Monetary policy is the process by which the monetary authority of a country controls the supply of money, often targeting a rate of interest for the purpose of promoting economic growth and stability. The official goals usually include relatively stable prices and low unemployment...
, one of the so-called Siete Sabios de México
Los Siete Sabios de México
Los Siete Sabios de México is a 1950 work of biography by Mexican writer and politician Luis Calderón Vega.The "Seven Sages" were the founding members of Mexico City's "Society for Conferences and Concerts" , which was founded in 1916 to promote greater cultural awareness among university students...
(Seven Sages of Mexico).
Early life
Morín was born in the old mining town of BatopilasBatopilas, Chihuahua
Batopilas is a small town, and seat of the surrounding municipality of the same name, in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, located along the Batopilas River at the bottom of one of the canyons that make up the Copper Canyon. It has a population of fewer than 2,000 people.- History :Batopilas was...
in the state of Chihuahua on February 27, 1897. His father Manuel Gómez Castillo (of Spanish
Spanish people
The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....
origin) died at age 24, shortly after his son was born. His mother, Concepción Morín de Avellano, was a native of Parral, Chihuahua
Parral, Chihuahua
Hidalgo del Parral, is a city and seat of the municipality of Hidalgo del Parral in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. It is located in the southern part of the state, 220 km from the state capital, the city of Chihuahua, Chih....
.
His widowed mother sold their small home and moved to Parral around 1911, from there they moved to the city of Chihuahua
Chihuahua, Chihuahua
The city of Chihuahua is the state capital of the Mexican state of Chihuahua. It has a population of about 825,327. The predominant activity is industry, including domestic heavy, light industries, consumer goods production, and to a smaller extent maquiladoras.-History:It has been said that the...
. Later, looking for a better place for her son, she moved to León
León, Guanajuato
The city of León, formally León de los Aldama is the sixth most populous city in Mexico and the first in the state of Guanajuato. It is also the seat of the municipality of León...
, Guanajuato
Guanajuato
Guanajuato officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Guanajuato is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 46 municipalities and its capital city is Guanajuato....
, there, in a Sacred Heart school, Manuel finished his primary school studies. His first years of preparatory school in the María Inmaculada school, founded by the bishop of León, Don Emeterio Valverde y Téllez.
By 1913, mother and child left León and moved to Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
where Manuel entered the Escuela Nacional Preparatoria
Escuela Nacional Preparatoria
The Escuela Nacional Preparatoria , the oldest senior high school system in Mexico, belonging to the National Autonomous University of Mexico , opened its doors on February 1, 1868. It was founded by Gabino Barreda, M.D., following orders of then President of Mexico Benito Juárez...
and finished high school.
From 1915 to 1919 he worked from correcting tests to writing editorials in revolutionary papers to help his family. He worked in the Secretaría de Hacienda from 1919 to 1921.
He married Lidia Torres Fuentes in 1924, with whom he had 4 children: Juan Manuel, Gabriela, Mauricio and Margarita.
He died on April 19, 1972, in Mexico City. He rests in Mexico City's Rotonda de los Personajes Ilustres.
Professional Studies
Morín studied Law during the days of the Mexican RevolutionMexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution was a major armed struggle that started in 1910, with an uprising led by Francisco I. Madero against longtime autocrat Porfirio Díaz. The Revolution was characterized by several socialist, liberal, anarchist, populist, and agrarianist movements. Over time the Revolution...
in the National 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...
, and there, as a student, he struggled to gain autonomy for the university of which he served as Rector in 1933. He received the degree of Lawyer in 1918, aged 21, he taught Political Law and Constitutional Law in the University. In 1934 he received a Honoris Causa doctorate from the UNAM
Unam
UNAM or UNaM may refer to:* National University of Misiones, a National University in Posadas, Argentina*National Autonomous University of Mexico , the large public autonomous university based in Mexico City...
.
Professional career
He began practicing his career as a lawyer two years before graduating, and after he graduated he started his own office which he carried out in the same building until his death. With the exception of a few years he laboured in the Secretary of Finance and as rector of the UNAM, he always lived as a lawyer and in 1927 he was legal representative to the Soviet Embassy.Civil Service Career
As a public servant, he occupied the post of Under-secretary of Finance, President of the Board of the Banco de MéxicoBanco de México
The Bank of Mexico , abbreviated BdeM or Banxico, is Mexico's central bank and lender of last resort. The Bank of Mexico is autonomous in exercising its functions, and its main objective is to achieve stability in the purchasing power of the national currency.On December 15, 2009, Agustín Carstens...
, member of the organizing commission of Banobras
Banobras
Banco Nacional de Obras y Servicios Públicos, SNC or Banobras is state owned development bank in Mexico. Its core business is sub national and project finance...
and collaborated in the first Commission on Studies about Social Security.
He worked in the Board of the Banco de México from 1925 to 1929. He created the First Law on Agricultural Credit. He had an important role in the creation of the Constitutive Law of the Bank of Mexico, Insurance institutions and organic laws of articles 27 and 28 of the Mexican Constitution.
Founding of the National Action Party
On September 15, 1939, Morín founded the National Action PartyNational Action Party (Mexico)
The National Action Party , is one of the three main political parties in Mexico. The party's political platform is generally considered Centre-Right in the Mexican political spectrum. Since 2000, the President of Mexico has been a member of this party; both houses have PAN pluralities, but the...
of Mexico along with Roberto Cossío y Cosío, Juan Landerreche Obregón, Daniel Kuri Breña, Juan José Páramo Castro, Bernardo Ponce, Carlos Ramírez Zetina and Enrique Manuel Loaeza Garay. Served as the first party president from 1939 to 1949. The National Action Party won the presidential elections for the first time in the year 2000, 61 years after its foundation.
"National Action" politics
The National Action Party was built on a theory of National Action politics, rejecting a fundamental adherence to right or left, which was developed by Gomez Morin and his associates.The party ideology, at least in principle, is that of "National Action" which rejects a fundamental adherence to left- or right-wing politics or policies, instead requiring the adoption of such policies as correspond to the problems faced by the nation at any given moment. Thus both right and left wing policies may be considered equally carefully in formulation of national policy. (This is a similar theoretical basis as both Gaullism
Gaullism
Gaullism is a French political ideology based on the thought and action of Resistance leader then president Charles de Gaulle.-Foreign policy:...
and Peronism
Peronism
Peronism , or Justicialism , is an Argentine political movement based on the programmes associated with former President Juan Perón and his second wife, Eva Perón...
, although the similarity is weakened in the later case by the distinctly authoritarian stance of Perón
Juan Perón
Juan Domingo Perón was an Argentine military officer, and politician. Perón was three times elected as President of Argentina though he only managed to serve one full term, after serving in several government positions, including the Secretary of Labor and the Vice Presidency...
.)
Since its inception, the party has always welcomed ideologues with a strongly Catholic background, as they have been unable to find expression in other parties. This has moved the PAN's overall position on most social issues into Christian Democracy
Christian Democracy
Christian democracy is a political ideology that seeks to apply Christian principles to public policy. It emerged in nineteenth-century Europe under the influence of conservatism and Catholic social teaching...
.