Andrés Quintana Roo
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Andrés Quintana Roo (b. Mérida, Yucatán, November 30, 1787; d. April 15, 1851) was a Mexican liberal politician and author. He was one of the most influential men in the War of Independence and served as a member of the Congress of Chilpancingo. He presided over the Constitutional Assembly, which drafted Mexico's Declaration of Independence in 1813, and served as a Legislator, Senator, and Secretary of State numerous times. He also served as a member of the Supreme Court and as a member of the Gobierno tripartito (Three-parted Government) (from 23 to December 31, 1829), edited and ran the Semanario Patriótico (Weekly Patriotic). The state of Quintana Roo was named after him.
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[edit] Biography
He was born to don José Matías Quintana and doña María Ana Roo de Quintana. He studied in the Seminario de San Idelfonso de Mérida where he proved his great capacity towards writing; in 1808 he continued his studies in Mexico City in the Real y Pontificia Universidad de Nueva España.
His father established the first printing press which printed the first newspapers on the Yucatán Peninsula. This seemed problematic to the Viceroys of New Spain and he was apprehended and sent to jail.
Quintana Roo turned to his studies, graduated as a lawyer becoming a resident at the law firm of don Agustín Pomposo Fernández. It was there that he met Leona Vicario, niece of don Agustín, with whom he fell in love. Due to the fact that don Agustín was pro-crown and Quintana Roo was pro-independence he was the denied the hand in marriage of Leona. Despite this Leona financially supported the independence cause. She was caught in 1813 and locked in the Colegio de Belén where she managed to escape disguised running to Tlapujahua where she married Quintana Roo.[1]
He died on April 15, 1851 in Mexico City. His remains lie next to those of his wife, Leona Vicario, in the mausoleum of the Column of Independence in Mexico City.
[edit] After independence
After Mexico obtained its independence from Spain, Quintana Roo presided over the National Constitutional Assembly of 1813–14 that drafted the (failed) Constitution of Apatzingán and the later Constitutional Congress that drafted the 1824 Constitution.
He served as Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs under Emperor Agustín de Iturbide from 1822 to 1823. He also served as a Justice of the Supreme Court (1824–27) and as a federal deputy representing the state of México.
[edit] References
- ^ (Spanish) Biography of Quintana Roo
