| Adrián Recinos | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 5, 1886 Antigua Guatemala |
| Died | 1962 Guatemala City |
| Nationality | Guatemalan |
| Fields | History |
| Known for | Translations of Mayan manuscripts to Spanish |
Adrián Recinos (1886–1962)[1] was a Guatemalan historian, essayist, Mayanist scholar and translator, and diplomat. Recinos was a great student of national history, mainly of the Maya civilization and the ancient history of the K'iche' and Kaqchikel people.
It was he who made the first edition in Spanish of the Popol Vuh, based on his translation of the manuscript found in the Newberry Library, Chicago, the United States. He also published his translations of other ancient Mayan manuscripts, including the Anales de los Cakchiqueles.
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Adrián Recinos was born on July 5, 1886 in Antigua Guatemala, as the son of Teodoro M. Recinos and Rafaela Ávila de Recinos.[2] He married María Palomo and had five children, Beatrice, Isabel, Mary, Adrian Jr., and Laura.[2] All four of his daughters would remain in Guatemala for the majority of their lives, and Adrian Jr. would attend Harvard University, and later became an M.D. in the U.S. He still resides just outside of Washington D.C..
Recinos obtained his bachelors degree of Sciences and Letters in 1902, and graduated from the School of Law in Guatemala in 1907. He pursued a public career as a diplomat and was Secretary of Legation in El Salvador (1908), Under-Secretary of State (1910–1920), Minister of Foreign Affairs (1922–1923), Ambassador to France, Spain, and Italy (1923–1925), President of the Legislative Assembly (1926), and Ambassador to the USA (1928–1943). In 1944 he ran as a candidate to the Presidency of the Republic, but lost the elections to Juan José Arévalo.[2][3]
Recinos had a passion for Guatemalan history and was a founding member of the Sociedad de Geografía e Historia de Guatemala, currently known as Academia de Geografía e Historia de Guatemala. He was also a member of the Sociedad de Geografía y Estadística (Mexico), Sociedad Histórica Americana (Buenos Aires), Instituto Iberico-Americano de Derecho Comparado (Madrid), amongst others.[2] Adrián Recinos received national and international recognition for his publications on Guatemala's history and his translations of ancient Mayan manuscripts.