Manuel Larráinzar

Manuel Larráinzar was a lawyer, Conservative politician, and historian from Ciudad Real, now San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas. Born in 1809, he studied at San Ildefonso in Mexico City and qualified as a lawyer in 1832. He held judicial office in Chiapas and represented the state in national political institutions, while developing a lasting interest in its history and territorial claims. ¹

Sent to Washington in 1852, he defended Mexico's position in the dispute over a proposed route across Tehuantepec. He discussed the issue with President Millard Fillmore, supplied explanations of Mexico's rejection of the earlier concession, and promoted publication of its legal arguments. His reports distinguished the possibility of a new transport agreement from recognition of the disputed private rights claimed by the American investors. He also published an analysis of the U.S. Senate committee's position. ²

He next represented Mexico at the papal court. Back in Mexico he served as justice minister in the Conservative governments during the War of Reform and later accepted offices under the empire. Those commitments disrupted his career when the political balance changed; his historical writing continued alongside them. ¹

Larráinzar's later scholarship included Estudios sobre la historia de América, sus ruinas y antigüedades, published in five volumes, with an extended treatment of Palenque. His earlier Noticia histórica de Soconusco and a further work on Chiapas, Soconusco, and the Guatemalan boundary joined historical argument to questions of sovereignty. He died in 1884. ^{1, 3, 4}