Ida Rodríguez Prampolini was a Mexican academic, art historian and cultural preservationist, who was heavily involved in the creation of organizations and institutions to preserve the artistic traditions of Mexico. To that end, she founded two art schools, eleven museums, twelve municipal archives, and over fifty houses of culture. She published over 400 articles and critiques of Mexican art and was honored with numerous awards over the course of her career. She was a member of the Mexican Academy of Arts, Mexican Academy of History and the Belgian International Union of Academies as well as a recipient of the , which recognizes excellence in teaching and academic research, in 1991. In 2001, she was honored with the National Prize for Arts and Sciences in the category of History, Social Sciences and Philosophy and in 2002, she was awarded the Calasanz Medal from the.
Early life
Ida Rodríguez Prampolini was born on 24 September 1925 in the port of Veracruz, in Veracruz state, Mexico to Ida Prampolini and Carlos Rodríguez Mendoza. Her mother was of Italian origin and was instrumental in founding the chapter of the Red Cross in Veracruz. Her father was a physician and served as the director of the regional hospital. After completing her secondary education, she moved to Mexico City and enrolled in the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, graduating with an undergraduate degree in philosophy and letters. She continued her education at UNAM, earning a master's degree in history in 1947 and a doctorate in literature with an emphasis in history in 1948. Having graduated Magna cum Laude, Rodríguez was awarded a government scholarship to pursue post-graduate studies between 1948 and 1949 at the summer school of the University of Santander at the Palacio de la Magdalena and the in Santillana del Mar, Spain, where she undertook courses in art history and abstract art. While she was there, she met Mathias Goeritz, who would become her husband. In 1950, she went to Montreal, Canada, studying art history at McGill University.
Career
Returning to Mexico, Rodríguez began teaching at UNAM in 1954. Between 1954 and 1957 she traveled in Italy studying at the University of Perugia, the University of Bologna, and at the San Luca School in Venice. She joined UNAM's Institute of Aesthetic Research in 1957 to further her own academic research, which focused on Contemporary and Modern art. In 1960, she returned to Europe on a study tour throughout France, Italy, Spain and Switzerland. In 1974, she became a member of the Mexican Academy of Arts and was elevated to a Level III researcher in the National System of Researchers in 1985. Retiring from UNAM in 1987, Rodríguez became a researcher emeritus for the university in 1988. In addition to publishing over 400 articles and books on art history, Rodríguez collaborated on exhibitions of the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura, producing catalogs for various exhibitions hosted between 1966 and 1995. She presented lectures at various conferences including Introducción al arte abstracto y Pintura del siglo XX en México hosted by the Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado "La Esmeralda" in 1961; El expresionismo abstracto y las nuevas derivaciones del dadaísmo in 1963, Dadá y el surrealismo in 1977 and Los orígenes del expresionismo alemán in 1981, held at the Museo de Arte Moderno; Las últimas corrientes del arte in 1964 and La escultura moderna in 1969 for the Palacio de Bellas Artes; and Diego Rivera, maestro de historia in 1986 at the Centro Cultural El Nigromante, among others. Rodríguez returned to Veracruz after her retirement and in 1987 founded the Veracruz Institute of Culture, with the aim of publishing and preserving the cultural heritage and folklore of Veracruz. Serving as its director until 1993, she oversaw he creation of two art schools, eleven museums, twelve municipal archives, and over fifty houses of culture. She was granted chair number 8 in the Mexican Academy of History in 1989. That same year, she earned an appointment from the Royal Spanish Academy of History as a corresponding member. She was admitted to the International Union of Academies in Brussels, Belgium in 1996. She was honored with the , which recognizes excellence in teaching and academic research, in 1991. Among many other awards and honors, she was honored with the National Prize for Arts and Sciences in the category of History, Social Sciences and Philosophy in 2001; was awarded the Calasanz Medal from the in 2002; and was granted a Doctor Honoris Causa by the Universidad Veracruzana in 2003. The Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura honored her with the Fine Arts gold medal in 2009 and the state legislature of Veracruz bestowed upon her the Adolfo Ruiz Cortines Medal that same year.
