Palacio de Lecumberri
Encyclopedia
The Palacio de Lecumberri is a large building, formerly a prison, in the northeast of Mexico City
, Mexico
, which now houses the General National Archive (Archivo General de la Nación).
Known in popular culture as The Black Palace of Lecumberri, it served as a penitentiary
from 1900 to 1976. It was inaugurated by President
Porfirio Díaz
. The inspiration and design of the Palacio is by Miguel S. Macedo, who was later on imprisoned there for several months during the turmoil brought about by the Mexican Revolution
. The design is said to have been based on that of Jeremy Bentham
's Panopticon
. Construction began in 1888. Among the famous people who were imprisoned there were David Alfaro Siqueiros
, Juan Gabriel
, Heberto Castillo
, Trotsky
's murderer Ramón Mercader
, Gregorio Cárdenas Hernández
and José Revueltas
.
During La decena trágica
in 1913, President
Francisco I. Madero
and Vice President José María Pino Suárez
were murdered while en route to Lecumberri.
Throughout its 76-year use as a prison, only two people escaped alive. The first, Pancho Villa
, was a general of the Mexican Revolution
. The second was Dwight Worker, an American
convicted of smuggling cocaine
. With the aid of his then-wife Worker escaped on December 17, 1975, disguised as a woman. They later authored a book about their experiences entitled Escape (ISBN 0-913374-76-8).
The building was decommissioned as a prison in 1976 and turned over to the National Archive in 1980. The National Archive is one of the oldest historical archives in the Americas.
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...
, Mexico
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...
, which now houses the General National Archive (Archivo General de la Nación).
Known in popular culture as The Black Palace of Lecumberri, it served as a penitentiary
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
from 1900 to 1976. It was inaugurated by President
President of Mexico
The President of the United Mexican States is the head of state and government of Mexico. Under the Constitution, the president is also the Supreme Commander of the Mexican armed forces...
Porfirio Díaz
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...
. The inspiration and design of the Palacio is by Miguel S. Macedo, who was later on imprisoned there for several months during the turmoil brought about by the Mexican Revolution
Mexican 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...
. The design is said to have been based on that of Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham was an English jurist, philosopher, and legal and social reformer. He became a leading theorist in Anglo-American philosophy of law, and a political radical whose ideas influenced the development of welfarism...
's Panopticon
Panopticon
The Panopticon is a type of building designed by English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in the late eighteenth century. The concept of the design is to allow an observer to observe all inmates of an institution without them being able to tell whether or not they are being watched...
. Construction began in 1888. Among the famous people who were imprisoned there were David Alfaro Siqueiros
David Alfaro Siqueiros
José David Alfaro Siqueiros was a social realist painter, known for his large murals in fresco that helped establish the Mexican Mural Renaissance, together with works by Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco, and also a member of the Mexican Communist Party who participated in an...
, Juan Gabriel
Juan Gabriel
Alberto Aguilera Valadez , better known by his stage name Juan Gabriel , is a Mexican singer and songwriter who is one of the most famous living representatives of the Mexican ranchera, ballad, mariachi, and pop music....
, Heberto Castillo
Heberto Castillo
Heberto Castillo Martínez was a Mexican civil engineer and political activist.Castillo was born in Ixhuatlán de Madero, Veracruz, and received a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the National Autonomous University...
, Trotsky
Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky , born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army....
's murderer Ramón Mercader
Ramón Mercader
Jaime Ramón Mercader del Río Hernández was a Spanish communist who became famous as the murderer of Russian Communist ideologist Leon Trotsky in 1940, in Mexico...
, Gregorio Cárdenas Hernández
Gregorio Cárdenas Hernández
Gregorio "Goyo" Cárdenas Hernández , also known as the strangler of Tacuba , was a Mexican spree killer...
and José Revueltas
José Revueltas
José Revueltas Sánchez was a Mexican writer, essayist, and political activist. He was part of an important artistic family that included his siblings Silvestre , Fermín and Rosaura .-Life:He was often imprisoned for his political activism, almost from the time he was a boy...
.
During La decena trágica
La decena trágica
The Ten Tragic Days was a series of events that took place in Mexico City between February 9 and February 19, 1913, during the Mexican Revolution. They culminated in a coup d'état and the assassination of President Francisco I...
in 1913, President
President of Mexico
The President of the United Mexican States is the head of state and government of Mexico. Under the Constitution, the president is also the Supreme Commander of the Mexican armed forces...
Francisco I. Madero
Francisco I. Madero
Francisco Ignacio Madero González was a politician, writer and revolutionary who served as President of Mexico from 1911 to 1913. As a respectable upper-class politician, he supplied a center around which opposition to the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz could coalesce...
and Vice President José María Pino Suárez
José María Pino Suárez
José María Pino Suárez was a Mexican statesman, revolutionary, poet, journalist and jurist who served as Vice President of Mexico , Secreatry of Education and Governor of Yucatán...
were murdered while en route to Lecumberri.
Throughout its 76-year use as a prison, only two people escaped alive. The first, Pancho Villa
Pancho Villa
José Doroteo Arango Arámbula – better known by his pseudonym Francisco Villa or its hypocorism Pancho Villa – was one of the most prominent Mexican Revolutionary generals....
, was a general of the Mexican Revolution
Mexican 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...
. The second was Dwight Worker, an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
convicted of smuggling cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
. With the aid of his then-wife Worker escaped on December 17, 1975, disguised as a woman. They later authored a book about their experiences entitled Escape (ISBN 0-913374-76-8).
The building was decommissioned as a prison in 1976 and turned over to the National Archive in 1980. The National Archive is one of the oldest historical archives in the Americas.