Francisco del Paso Troncoso

Francisco del Paso y Troncoso was an important Mexican historian, archivist, and Nahuatl language scholar. He was born in Veracruz, Mexico, in 1842, and studied medicine at the National Preparatory School. However, he did not graduate and instead devoted himself to the study of archaeology and linguistics, especially the Nahuatl language. He became the director of the National Archaeological Museum in 1889, and led several archaeological explorations in Veracruz. In 1892, he was appointed president of the Mexican Commission on the American Historic Exhibition in Madrid, Spain, where he discovered and published many valuable documents and manuscripts on the history of Mexico, such as the works of Bernardino de Sahagún and the Códices matritenses. He remained in Europe until his death in 1916, working tirelessly in archives and libraries in Spain, France, Italy, and other countries. He was a member of the Mexican Academy of Language, the Royal Academy of History of Spain, and the Association of Writers and Artists of Spain. He died in Florence, Italy, where he had gone to study the Códice Florentino. His remains were transferred to Veracruz, Mexico, in 1935, and are now in the former Bethlehemite convent, which is the headquarters of the Veracruz Institute of Culture. He is considered one of the most outstanding and influential Mexican historians of his era, and a pioneer of Nahuatl studies.