María Luisa "Malú" Block, née Cabrera (1904 – 1989) was 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...

 artist and arts patron

Patronage

Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows to another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings or popes have provided to musicians, painters, and sculptors...

.

She was the daughter of the lawyer, writer and politician Luis Cabrera Lobato

Luis Cabrera Lobato

Luis Vicente Cabrera Lobato was a Mexican lawyer, politician and writer. His pen name for his political essays was "Lic...

 and his wife Guillermina. In 1931 she married Harry Block (1902–1975) in New York, a former liaison man between Constantin Oumansky in Washington and Vicente Lombardo Toledano

Vicente Lombardo Toledano

Vicente Lombardo Toledano was one of the foremost Mexican labor leaders of the 20th century. He founded the Confederation of Mexican Workers , the national labor federation most closely associated with the ruling party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party , for most of the last sixty-five years...

 in Mexico City and regular Mexican correspondent of The Nation

The Nation

The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...

. They had two children, named Malú and Félipe. Around 1935 the family moved from the United States to Mexico.

Malú Block was co-founder and co-financier of the Teatro Ulises

Teatro Ulises

The Teatro Ulises was an experimental theater, located in the calle de Mesones 42 of Mexico City, that was established around 1927/1928 by Antonieta Rivas Mercado, daughter of the architect Antonio Rivas Mercado, and further members of the group Los Contemporáneos...

.