Mariano Azuela (Azuela Mariano)

(1873-1952)
Born January 1, 1873 in the town of Lagos de Moreno (pc. Jalisco), in a family of small landowners. He graduated from the Medical Faculty of the University of Guadalajara (1899), but from an early age showed an interest in literature and politics. By 1910, when the revolution began, Azuela has published three novels, exposure of corruption in society, but the writer did not receive recognition.
His best novel - Those at the bottom (Los de abajo, 1915) - Azuela wrote immediately after the defeat of the army of Pancho Villa, where he served as a military doctor, and published in installments in the Spanish-language newspaper of the town of El Paso (pc. Texas, USA). The hero of the novel, the commander of the guerrilla unit, embodies both light and dark sides of the revolutionary movement: starting a war for justice, he eventually lost the ideals of the struggle and gave himself up to the elements of barbarism. His elevation and the final death symbolizes the trajectory of the revolution. Among other novels Azuela (total, he wrote 22 novels), the most significant Kasika (Los caciques, 1917) and flies (Las moscas, 1922). Azuela died in Mexico City on March 1, 1952.