Noticias
Tribute to Rafael Tovar y de Teresa two years after his death
December 11, 2018Secretary of Culture of the Government of Mexico, Alejandra Frausto, paid tribute to Rafael Tovar y de Teresa (Mexico City, April 6, 1954 - December 10, 2016), who was the first head of the institution, two years after his death.
In a ceremony held on Monday, December 10 at the National Palace, in the hall that bears the name of the diplomat, lawyer, historian and cultural promoter, Alejandra Frausto committed herself to keep his memory alive and what he imagined for the Department of Culture has a complete fulfillment.
In the presence of Rafael Tovar y de Teresa’s relatives, including his children Rafael and Leonora Tovar López Portillo, as well as Natalia and María Tovar García, she said that there will be a presentation of a reedited compilation of his publications this week at the Palace of Fine Arts.
In words of the Secretary of Culture, it is symbolic that a room of the most important place for public power, that is the National Palace, bears the name of Rafael Tovar y de Teresa, a man of state and law, who saw the creative part of culture and conceived the institutions of the sector.
"He was an example of respect for others, an example of wisdom and inexhaustible curiosity for knowledge. That was experienced by those of us who had the privilege of working with him and you as his family”.
Alejandra Frausto remembered when she was invited to collaborate in the work team of the author of Paraíso es tu memoria, as head of the General Directorate of Popular Cultures.
"He invited me to a project about how culture can be not only a balm for the soul, but a form of development for people and a way to transform the world, through Culture for Harmony”.
Rafael Tovar y de Teresa is co-author of Patrimonio Cultural de México (two volumes); Paraíso es tu memoria (2009); El último brindis de Don Porfirio (2012); and De la paz al olvido. Porfirio Díaz y el final del mundo (2015).
Rafael Tovar y de Teresa joined the Mexican Foreign Service in 1979 where he served as General Director of Cultural Affairs of the Department of Foreign Affairs (1979-1982); Minister at the Mexican Embassy in France (1983-1987); Advisor to the Secretary of Foreign Affairs (1987-1988) and Ambassador of Mexico to Italy (2000-2006).
He was coordinator of Legal Affairs of the then National Council for Culture and Arts in 1989; General Director of the National Institute of Fine Arts from 1991 to 1992, and president of Conaculta on two occasions: from 1992 to 2000 and from 2012 to 2015; in December 2015 he became Mexico's first Secretary of Culture.
Mexico
