Durango, Mexico Biography

A biography is a history of a person’s life. A biography may include the individual’s birth, marriage, death information, and the names of his or her parents, children, and other family members. Biographies often include photographs, family traditions and stories, clues about an ancestor’s place of origin, residences, military service, and community activities. Use the information carefully, because it may contain inaccuracies.

Some biographies of Mexican citizens exist, but usually only on the most notable citizens. Few ancestors of the common people were the subjects of biographies.

Some brief biographies of individuals have been gathered and published in collected biographies, sometimes called biographical encyclopedias or dictionaries. Others feature biographies of specific groups of people such as military personnel or priests.

If you have prominent ancestors in Durango, you might want to try searching for them in Raul Vázquez Galindo's (Durango, México : [s.n.], 1966-1967), FS Library INTL Book 972.15 D3v. It is a "who's who in Durango" book of biographies of notable durangeños.

Latin America, Spain, and Portugal Biographies
Extensive and significant biographical encyclopedias and dictionaries that cover all of Latin America, Spain, and Portugal are:

Herrero Mediavilla, Víctor, and Lolita Rosa Aguayo Nayle. (Biographical Index of Spain, Portugal and Latin America). New York: K.G. Saur, ca. 1990. (FS Library book Ref 920 In2; microfiches 6002170–6002172.)

Herrero Mediavilla, Víctor. (Biographical Archive of Spain, Portugal and Latin America New Series). München: K.G. Saur, 1993. (FS Library microfiches 6131531–6131558.)

These sets of indexes include hundreds of thousands of biographical entries taken from hundreds of biographical reference works published between the 17th and the 20th centuries.

Mexican Biographies
There are several major collections of Mexican biographies, including:

León-Portilla, Miguel. (Porrúa Dictionary of History, Biography and Geography of Mexico). México, D. F.: Editorial Porrua, ca. 1995. 4 vols. (FS Library book 972 E5d 1995.)

Miguel I. Verges, José María, 1904–1964. (Dictionary of Insurgents). México: Editorial Porrua, 1969. (FS Library book 972 D3m.) Contains 4,000 entries.

Icaza, Francisco A. De. (Autobiographical Dictionary of the Conquerers and Settlers of New Spain/Taken from Original Texts). Guadalajara, México: Edmundo Aviña Levy, 1969. (FS Library book 972 D3id or FS Library film 0873574 items 2–3.) Contains 1,385 entries.

Fernández de Recas García, Guillermo Sergio. (Aspiring Americans in Charge of the Holy Office: Their Genealogical Ascendancy). México, D.F.: Libreria de Manuel Porrua, 1956. (FS Library book 972 D3fr; FS Library film 0283553)

There are also bibliographies of biographies. The following is an example that lists 1,314 publications:

Iguíniz, Juan B. (Bibliography of Mexican Biographies). México: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 1969. (FS Library book 972 A3ig.)