| 27 Feb 1881 | born in Oaxaca, Mexico, to Ignacio
Vasconcelos and Carmen Calderón Conde |
| 1887 | moved with family to Piedras Negras,
Coahuila |
| 1888 | entered English-language primary school
in Eagle Pass |
| 1895 | returned with family to Mexico City;
briefly attended Instituto de Toluca |
| 1896 | moved with family to Campeche; entered
secondary school at Instituto de Ciencias |
| 1898 | graduated from Instituto de Ciencias in
Campeche |
| 1899 | entered Escuela Nacional Preparatoria in
Mexico; family moved back to Piedras Negras, where his mother
died |
| 1901 | entered Escuela de Jurisprudencia in
Mexico City |
| 1905 | graduated with thesis, "Teoría
dinámica del derecho"; worked as secretary and as law clerk, in
Durango and in Mexico City |
| 1906 | in Tlaxcala, married Serafina Miranda of
Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca |
| 1907 | admitted to bar; published Teoría
dinámica del derecho |
| 28 Oct 1908 | with friends, founded the
anti-Díaz Ateneo de la Juventud |
| 25 Apr 1909 | formally joined anti-Díaz
Partido Nacional Antireeleccionista in Mexico City; named one of its
Secretaries and co-director of its weekly periodical El
Antireeleccionista, soon suppressed by Díaz |
| 1910 | published anti-Díaz Gabino Barreda
y las ideas contemporáneas, resulting in President Díaz'
order for his arrest; escaped to New York, returning to Mexico City after
three months |
| 5 Oct 1910 | immediately backed Francisco I.
Madero's Plan de San Luis Potosí |
| 1911 | pursued in Mexico City by Díaz'
police, Vasconcelos closed his law office and relocated to Washington,
D.C., authorized to continue working there for Madero |
| July 1911 | upon Díaz' resignation and
Madero's triumph, Vasconcelos returned to Mexico City and re-opened his
office; named president of the Ateneo de la Juventud |
| 2 Sep 1911 | Partido Nacional Antireeleccionista
changed by Madero to Partido Constitucional Progresiva, Vasconcelos made
vice-President of its executive committee |
| 6 Nov 1911 | Madero assumed the presidency of
the republic |
| Oct 1912 | rebellion of Félix Díaz
broke out with clandestine support of Victoriano Huerta, supposedly
Madero's supporter |
| Jan 1913 | Vasconcelos futilely warned Madero in
person against Huerta |
| 18 Feb 1913 | Huerta named President |
| 22 Feb 1913 | Madero assassinated |
| 26 Mar 1913 | V. Carranza issued Plan of
Guadalupe repudiating Huerta; Vasconcelos sent as Carranza's confidential
agent to London, Paris |
| 1914 | Vasconcelos named Director of Escuela
Nacional Preparatoria by Carranza |
| 8 Oct 1914 | Refusing to support Carranza
unconditionally, Vasconcelos resigned directorship, was jailed; escaped
to Aguascalientes |
| Nov 1914 | Convention of Aguascalientes named
Gen. Eulalio Gutiérrez Presidente provisional de la
República; Gutiérrez named Vasconcelos Minister of Public
Instruction |
| 16 Jan 1915 | Gutiérrez and Vasconcelos
escaped from Villistas in Mexico City |
| 20 Jan 1915 | Gutiérrez, declared no
longer provisional president, escaped to United States |
| April 1915 | Gutiérrez sent Vasconcelos as
his representative to Washington, D. C.; Vasconcelos subsequently
resigned |
| Oct 1915 | U.S.A. officially recognized Carranza
government in Mexico |
| Nov 1915 | Vasconcelos withdrew from public
life |
| 1916 | published Pitágoras, una
teoría del ritmo (Havana), Prometeo vencedor (Madrid); accepted
post with Escuelas Internacionales, left for South America |
| 1917 | left Escuelas Internacionales, returned
to New York |
| 1918 | earned living as corporate lawyer across
U.S.; published El monismo estético (Mexico) |
| 1919 | abandoned professional life and relocated
to California |
| 1920 | published Estudios Indostánicos and
La caída de Carranza; de la dictadura a la libertad |
| 21 May 1920 | Carranza killed in Mexico;
Vasconcelos returned to Mexico City |
| 9 June 1920 | Adolfo de la Huerta, named
provisional president, appointed Vasconcelos Rector of Mexico's
Universidad Nacional |
| 18 June 1920 | Vasconcelos began formal campaign
against illiteracy |
| 1 Dec 1920 | Obregón assumed presidency
and placed national presses at disposal of the National University;
Vasconcelos began monthly journal El Maestro, continued forming
Secretaría de Educación |
| 1921 | Vasconcelos traveled constantly in Mexico
promoting education |
| 9 Feb 1921 | began publication of
series of classic titles in translation |
| 15 Apr 1921 | started free-breakfast program in
Mexico's public schools |
| 27 Apr 1921 | produced shield and motto for
National University, "Por mi raza hablará el espíritu"; began
arranging for his elected successor |
| 20 Sept 1921 | inaugurated Primer Congreso
Internacional de Estudiantes |
| 3 Oct 1921 | announced Acta Constitutiva de
Federación de Intelectuales Latinoamericanos, served as president
of steering committee |
| 12 Oct 1921 | ceased to be rector of UNAM;
immediately appointed Secretary of Public Education |
| 1922 | published Divagaciones literarias
(Mexico), Orientaciones del pensamiento en México (Córdoba,
Argentina); set up libraries throughout Mexico; subsidized "muralist
movement" of Rivera, Orozco, Siqueiros; patronized national folk arts,
founded a national Symphony, carried out first census of indigenous
regions and languages; designated special ambassador to South America
|
| 1923 | established beginnings of National
Polytechnical Institute in Mexico City; developed "cultural missions" in
rural towns; named Maestro de la Juventud by students of Colombia, Peru,
and Panama |
| 1924 | published Ideario de acción (Lima),
La revulsión de la energia; los ciclos de la fuerza, el cambio y
la existencia (Mexico); resigned as Secretary of Public Education,
accepting candidacy for governor of Oaxaca, where he was popularly
elected; central government refused to recognize him in office; began
collaboration with periodical El universal, started his review La
antorcha |
| 1925 | published La raza cósmica
(Barcelona); left Mexico for Europe via Cuba, traveled Spain, settled in
Paris |
| 1926 | published Indología: una
interpretación de la cultura iberoamericana and final issues of La
antorcha; lectured by invitation in Central America and at the University
of Chicago |
| 1927 | attended European anti-communist
conference as Puerto Rican delegate; traveled Europe, lectured at
University of Chicago |
| 1928 | continued as university lecturer across
U. S., including political as well as academic topics; accepted
nomination for president of Mexico from the Partido Nacional
Antireeleccionista |
| 10 Nov 1928 | encouraged to return to public
life, entered Mexico via Nogales |
| 1929 | published Tratado de metafísica
(Mexico); campaigned along Mexico's Pacific coast, then central and
northern states |
| 17 Nov 1929 | "unanimously chosen" president of
the republic, Vasconcelos was declared President-elect from Guaymas;
opposed by both U.S. and central Mexican governments, returned to U.S.,
after issuing his Plan de Guaymas, advocating Mexican rebellion, from
Nogales |
| 1930 | disillusioned with political efforts,
left for Panama; lectured against U. S. imperialism and the Calles
regime |
| 1931 | published Etica (Madrid), Pesimismo
alegre (Madrid); went to Paris |
| 1933 | moved to Argentina; published Sonata
mágica: cuentos y relatos (Madrid) |
| 1934 | published Bolivarismo y Monroismo: temas
iberoamericanos (Santiago, Chile); in Chile, completed first volume of
his autobiographical memoirs, Ulises criollo |
| 1935 | published Estética and first
volume of Ulises criollo (Mexico); entered U.S.A., moved to New Orleans,
then to San Antonio, Texas |
| 1936 | moved to Austin, Texas; completed and
published La tormenta (Mexico), second of 4 vols of Ulises
criollo |
| 1937 | published Historia del pensamiento
filosófico and Breve historia de México |
| 1938 | published El desastre, third vol of
Ulises Criollo |
| 1939 | moved to Mexico City; published El
proconsulado, completing Ulises criollo |
| 1940 | published Manual de filosofía and
Páginas escogidas |
| 1941 | published Hernán Cortés,
creador de la nacionalidad; first wife died |
| 1943 | married the pianist Esperanza
Cruz |
| 1945 | published Lógica orgánica and
El viento de Bagdad |
| 1946 | named director of Mexico's Biblioteca
Nacional |
| 1952 | published Filosofía
estética |
| 1955 | published Temas
contemporáneas |
| 1957 | published En el ocaso de mi
vida |
| 1958 | elected vice-president of the
Federación Internacional de Sociedades Filosóficas; published
Don Evaristo Madero and an expurgated edition of his
autobiography |
| 30 June 1959 | died at his home in Mexico
City |
