Primo Feliciano Velázquez


Primo Feliciano Velázquez Rodríguez was a Mexican journalist, attorney and historian who specialized in regional history. He was a translator of Nahuatl and Latin and a connoisseur of local literature. In 1946-1948, he published the definitive Historia de San Luis Potosí in four volumes.
Velázquez was born in Santa Maria del Rio, San Luis Potosi to Octaviano Velázquez and María de la Concepción Rodríguez. He was twelve years old when he was enrolled at the Seminary of San Luis Potosi, and he graduated in 1878, took an advanced degree in 1879, and passed his law examination there in October 1880. Subsequently, he assumed the Latin chair and the Civil Law chair there.
In 1883, he published La Voz de San Luis, a series of broadsides to celebrate the centennial of the birth of Agustín de Iturbide. The next year, he joined with Ambrosio Ramirez and Juan N. Ruelas to found the newspaper El Estandarte in San Luis Potosi which proceeded to publish articles critical of the government, as well as literary and historical articles, written mostly by Velázquez. Velázquez espoused Christian social doctrine in his editorials, and encouraged others to submit articles on local history and folklore. El Estandarte was very successful going from biweekly to daily in 1890 and continuing to be published until the end of 1911.
Velázquez made his home a gathering point for those interested in the history of San Luis Potosi, and impromptu seminars were regular occurrences. He was a pioneer in archaeological research in San Luis Potosi, not only excavating himself, but encouraging the work of others.
Velázquez belonged to a number of organizations, local, national, and international, among them were: Academia Mexicana de la Historia, Real Academia de la Lengua, and Sociedad Mexicana de Geografía y Estadística.

Selected works