Vicente Florencio Carlos Riva Palacio Guerrero better known as Vicente Riva Palacio (16 October 1832 in Mexico City – 22 November 1896 in Madrid) was a Mexican liberal politician, novelist, journalist, intellectual, and military leader.
His father was Mariano Riva Palacio, a moderate liberal, and his mother was María de los Dolores Guerrero Hernández, daughter of independence hero and President of Mexico Vicente Guerrero and María de Guadalupe Hernández.[1][2] Vicente's father worked for the Emperor Maximilian I of MexicoinQuerétaro during the French intervention in Mexico,[3] but Riva Palacio led forces in defense of the Mexican Republic against the French-backed empire.
In 1845 Riva Palacio entered college at San Gregorio, graduating in 1854 with a law degree. Riva Palacio was not only a lawyer but a general, diplomat, politician, historian and a writer. After Riva Palacio received his degree in law he continued working while going to war. Riva Palacio participated in the liberal Plan de Ayutla that ousted Antonio López de Santa Anna and fought against the French intervention in Mexico (1862–67). In 1858 and through April 1860, he was in prison because of his liberal ideas. After prison, he became member of the Chamber of Deputies, its President in 1861,[4] and wrote for the newspaper La Orquesta. In 1862, Riva Palacio became Governor of the State of Mexico. Then in 1865, he founded and published a newspaper called "El Pito Real". Also in 1865, he became Governor of Michoacán due to the death of General José María Arteaga, Riva Palacio was then named General and chief of the central army.[5] In 1867 he published another newspaper called "El Radical", which lasted until 1873. After El Radical he published another newspaper called El Hijo del Ahuizote. In 1876 he resigned as governor to dedicate himself to writing. During the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz in 1884, he was accused of conspiracy and was imprisoned, where he wrote his second volume of what became the five-volume México a través de los siglos. After prison Riva Palacio retired from the military and left for Spain where he met Spanish artists and politicians. In 1896, Vicente Riva Palacio died in Madrid.[6]
Riva Palacio published in several different genres: history, poetry, novels, and theatrical works. His writings have been the subject of scholarly study.[7][8][9][10][11]
