Martinez del Rio
Encyclopedia
The Martinez del Rio Family
The Martinez del Rio family is one of the leading patrician families, prominent in entrepreneurship and cultural circles. The family has helped to shape Mexico's politics, economy and society from the time of Mexican independence from SpainSpain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, until the present day. The family's role in Mexican history and culture has been significant.
Originally from the nobility of the Spanish region of Cantabria
Cantabria
Cantabria is a Spanish historical region and autonomous community with Santander as its capital city. It is bordered on the east by the Basque Autonomous Community , on the south by Castile and León , on the west by the Principality of Asturias, and on the north by the Cantabrian Sea.Cantabria...
and the House of Castiglione
Castiglione (surname)
Castiglione is an Italian and Jewish habitational name from any of numerous places named with this word, from medieval Latin castellio ‘fortification’, ‘small castle’.Castiglione may refer to:...
of Milan, Italy, the Martinez del Rio family currently has less than 200 members, most of whom still reside in Mexico. The family tree has been kept intact from the 8th century and the family can trace direct lineage to Spain's medieval hero El Cid
El Cid
Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar , known as El Cid Campeador , was a Castilian nobleman, military leader, and diplomat...
. Prior to its arrival in Mexico,the family was active in trade in Central and South America, and operated out of Panama City
Panama City
Panama is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Panama. It has a population of 880,691, with a total metro population of 1,272,672, and it is located at the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, in the province of the same name. The city is the political and administrative center of the...
. When they arrived in Mexico their name was Martínez Retes (Martínez del Río Retes) and was subsequently modified to its present form.
The family lived through trying times during the second half of the 19th century when the family sided with Mexico's Conservatives (Conservadores) who supported a Napoleonic Monarchy. In fact, José Pablo Martínez del Río
Maximilian I of Mexico
Maximilian I was the only monarch of the Second Mexican Empire.After a distinguished career in the Austrian Navy, he was proclaimed Emperor of Mexico on April 10, 1864, with the backing of Napoleon III of France and a group of Mexican monarchists who sought to revive the Mexican monarchy...
Castiglione was the spokesman of the delegation of prominent local European
European ethnic groups
The ethnic groups in Europe are the various ethnic groups that reside in the nations of Europe. European ethnology is the field of anthropology focusing on Europe....
families that offered the Crown of the Mexican Empire
Mexican Empire
The Mexican Empire or rarely Gran Mexico was the name of modern Mexico on two brief occasions in the 19th century when it was ruled by an emperor. With the Declaration of Independence of the Mexican Empire from Spain in 1821, Mexico became an independent monarchy, but was soon replaced with the...
to Maximilian I of Mexico
Maximilian I of Mexico
Maximilian I was the only monarch of the Second Mexican Empire.After a distinguished career in the Austrian Navy, he was proclaimed Emperor of Mexico on April 10, 1864, with the backing of Napoleon III of France and a group of Mexican monarchists who sought to revive the Mexican monarchy...
in 1864. During his reign, Maximilan appointed José Pablo as ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. Benito Juárez
Benito Juárez
Benito Juárez born Benito Pablo Juárez García, was a Mexican lawyer and politician of Zapotec origin from Oaxaca who served five terms as president of Mexico: 1858–1861 as interim, 1861–1865, 1865–1867, 1867–1871 and 1871–1872...
, who was the leader of Mexico's Liberals (Liberales) confiscated the family's properties known as "Encinillas" which comprised 60,000 km² of land that the family owned in northern Mexico. It subsequently passed into the Terrazas family empire.
Once Benito Juárez
Benito Juárez
Benito Juárez born Benito Pablo Juárez García, was a Mexican lawyer and politician of Zapotec origin from Oaxaca who served five terms as president of Mexico: 1858–1861 as interim, 1861–1865, 1865–1867, 1867–1871 and 1871–1872...
took control of Mexico as president he had Maximilian put to death by firing squad in 1867 and banished Jose Pablo to his native Milan, Italy. It was not until 1870 that Juárez granted a "general amnesty" and the exiles could return, but their properties remained in the hands of the State. The Martínez del Rios joined their blood through marriage with several descendants of Agustin de Iturbide
Agustín de Iturbide
Agustín Cosme Damián de Iturbide y Aramburu , also known as Augustine I of Mexico, was a Mexican army general who built a successful political and military coalition that was able to march into Mexico City on 27 September 1821, decisively ending the Mexican War of Independence...
, who had obtained Mexico's independence from Spain and became the country's first emperor. Mexico's short-lived royalty maintains its lineage to this day, explained in the Casa Imperial's (Imperial House) website.
The family's historic archive contains nearly 60,000 documents which were classified by José Pablo's great grandson Carlos and donated in 2006 by Carlos's daughters to The Center of Mexican History (CEHM) CARSO. The archive contains more than 300 years of family history. The Martínez del Rio Archive can be found at the CEHM as "Archivo Martínez del Río - Fondo DCXXIII" and it covers family history from 1569 until 1989.
It was not until the presidency of Porfirio Diaz
Porfirio Díaz
José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori was a Mexican-American War volunteer and French intervention hero, an accomplished general and the President of Mexico continuously from 1876 to 1911, with the exception of a brief term in 1876 when he left Juan N...
in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that the family's finances improved, when it settled its claims for a loan it had made several decades before in South America. Family members also profited handsomely from legal services rendered to various foreign interests.
The Martinez del Rio family acquired an interest in the Joaquín Moreno land grant in present-day McLennan County, Texas. Subsequent grants from the Republic of Texas and state of Texas were patented in conflict with the Moreno grant. Resolution of several of these conflicts made it to the Supreme Court of Texas (52 Texas Reports 170 and 62 Texas Reports 695). The family also loaned a significant amount to the government of Ecuador, so that it could pursue its independence from Gran Colombia
Gran Colombia
Gran Colombia is a name used today for the state that encompassed much of northern South America and part of southern Central America from 1819 to 1831. This short-lived republic included the territories of present-day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Panama, northern Peru and northwest Brazil. The...
(the ex-Spanish colony).
Early in the 20th century, the family intermarried with Spanish noble families.
Ever since Mexican independence, the family has had strong ties to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, where historically many of its members lived and received their education. A number of them studied at Stonyhurst College, from where in 1912 three Martinez del Rio brothers (Ventura, Jose Pablo and Eustaquio) moved to Paris, chaperoned by famed author and then Oxford student J.R.R. Tolkien, who started a relationship with the family.
Other Famous Family Members
- Dolores del RíoDolores del RíoDolores del Río was a Mexican film actress. She was a star of Hollywood films during the silent era and in the Golden Age of Hollywood...
(Hollywood actress) - She married (and subsequently divorced) businessman Jaime Martínez del Río - Father Alvaro Corcuera Martinez del RioAlvaro Corcuera Martinez del RioFather Álvaro Corcuera Martínez del Río is a Mexican Roman Catholic priest. He has been the Director General of the Catholic Order of the Legionaries of Christ since January 2005.-Biography:...
- Director General of the Catholic Order of The Legionaries of Christ - Dr. Pablo Martínez del Río (1892–1963), historian, first director of National School of Anthropology and History (1942), Mexico
- [Dr. Carlos Martinez del Rio] http://www.uwyo.edu/cmdelrio/Site/Welcome.html - Professor of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming
- María Josefa Martínez del Río y Fernández de Henestrosa de Redo y Vidal Soler, Art Historian, specialist in arts and crafts of New Spain
External links
- Martinez del Rio Archive at the Center for the Study of Mexican History - CARSO - Soumaya Museum
- Original Blue Print of Hacienda La Hormiga
- Mexico Presidency of The Republic - History
- Los Pinos and Martinez del Rio History
- Imperial House of Mexico
- Dr. Pablo Martínez del Río y Vinent
- Dr. Carlos Martinez del Rio