Rogelio Fernández Güell:
the history that unites Mexico and Costa Rica
UNAM-Costa Rica
Speakers:
Dr. Tomás Federico Arias Castro (director of the Chair of History of Law at the Universidad de Costa Rica)
Dr. Carlos Miguel Valdés González (director of UNAM-Costa Rica)
Photograph: The image was taken from the book Episodes of the Mexican revolution by Rogelio Fernández Güell, Trejos Hermanos Publishing, San José, Costa Rica, 1915. Edited by César A. Ríos Muñoz.
In this dialogue, Dr. Arias Castro will take us through the history of an important historical personage but little recognized: Rogelio Fernández Güell. He start his career as a Costa Rican journalist and politician, and afterwards he became in became a close collaborator of Mexican President Francisco I. Madero.
It will be commented about his beginnings, his familiar, social and political context, his departure from Costa Rica and his stay in Spain, his approach to spiritism, his arrival to Mexico and his participation in the Porfirio Díaz’s government, in the Mexican Revolution and, later on, in Madero’s government.
Finally, our speaker will conclude with Mr. Fernandez´s return to Costa Rica and his political participation in the country. Without a doubt, this man is an important historic figure who unfortunately has been almost unnoticed, even though his participation in both countries caused great impact. For this reason it is worthy to rescue him from that oblivion and share the importance of his actions.
Carlos Miguel Valdés González
He graduated from geophysical engineering in the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) and obtained his master and Ph D. in geophysics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA). During his professional career he has been associate researcher of the National Center of Disasters Prevention in the area of volcanic monitoring, titular researcher of the department of seismology in the Geophysics Institute (UNAM) and Chief to the Seismological National Service from 2005 to 2013. From 2014 to 2018 was designated General Director of the National Center of Disasters Prevention and from October 2018 he is the Director of Center of Mexican Studies UNAM-Costa Rica.
Dr. Carlos Miguel Valdés González
(director of UNAM-Costa Rica)
Dr. Tomás Federico Arias Castro (director of the Chair of History of Law at the Universidad de Costa Rica)
Tomás Federico Arias Castro
He is PhD candidate in Constitutional Law; Master in Political Sciences and Degree in Law. Also he is Director of the Chair of History of Law at the Universidad de Costa Rica, professor at the Diplomatic Institute of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at the Master's Degree in Constitutional Law from the Universidad Estatal a Distancia and the Universidad Escuela Libre de Derecho. President of the Editorial Costa Rica and the Costa Rican Academy of Genealogical Sciences; member of the Society of Friends of the Mexican Academy of History, the National Commission of Historical Commemorations, the Costa Rican Morista Academy, the Association of Genealogy and History of Costa Rica, the Administrative Board and the History Commission of the Bar Association. Specialist in bilateral history between the Republics of Costa Rica and Mexico.