Francisco Javier Clavijero

Mexican Jesuit

Francisco Javier Clavijero Echegaray, SJ (sometimes Francesco Saverio Clavigero; September 9, 1731 – April 2, 1787) was a Mexican Jesuit teacher, scholar and historian. After the expulsion of the Jesuits from Spanish provinces in 1767, he went to Italy, where he wrote a valuable work on the pre Columbian history and civilizations of Mesoamerica and the central Mexican altiplano.

He began his studies in Puebla, at the college of San Jerónimo for grammar and the Jesuit college of San Ignacio for philosophy, Latin, and theology. Upon completion of these studies, he entered a seminary in Puebla, Puebla to study for the priesthood, but soon decided to become a Jesuit instead. In February 1748 he transferred to a Jesuit college in Tepotzotlán, State of Mexico. There he continued to study Latin and also learned ancient Greek, French, Portuguese, Italian, German, and English. In 1751 he was sent back to Puebla for further studies in philosophy. Here he was introduced to the works of such contemporary thinkers as Descartes, Newton, and Leibniz. Clavijero was then sent to Mexico City, to complete his theological and philosophical studies at the Colegio de San Pedro y Pablo. Here he joined with other students of stature, including José Rafael Campoy, Andrés Cavo, Francisco Javier Alegre, Juan Luis Maneiro and Pedro José Márquez, part of a group known today as the "Mexican humanists of the eighteenth century". While still a student, he began teaching, and was made prefect of the Colegio de San Ildefonso. Later he was appointed to the chair of rhetoric in the Seminario Mayor of the Jesuits, an exceptional appointment as he had yet to be ordained as a priest.

In 1754, Clavijero was ordained a priest. He began to teach at the Colegio de San Gregorio, founded at the beginning of the colonial era to teach Indian youth. He spent five years there. Quoting from his biographer:

In those five years he examined with great curiosity all the documents relating to the Mexican nation that had been collected in large numbers in the Colegio de San Pedro y San Pablo, and with great determination extracted from them precious treasures that later were published in the history he left for posterity. Nevertheless, his time at San Gregorio was not without problems. In a letter dated April 3, 1761, Father Pedro Reales, vicar general of the Jesuits, rebuked him in a letter for

having completely shaken off the yoke of obedience, responding with an "I don't want to" to those who assigned you duties, as occurred yesterday, or at the very least this answer was given to the superior, who in truth did not know what path to take so that Your Reverence would fulfill and embrace your duty. Relocating you is hardly a solution, and Your Reverence's life and example have provided no satisfaction, almost completely removing the unique purpose of those who live in this college, and handing over to others jobs and studies that you fill. It seems clear that these "other jobs and studies" of Father Clavijero referred to the Aztec codices and the books of the period of the Conquest that had been given to the college of San Pedro and San Pablo by Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora. Clavijero followed Sigüenza as an example in his investigations, and was very pleased with Sigüenza's benevolence to and love of the Indians. He also admired much of the culture of the Indians before their contact with Europeans. Clavijero never ceased to try to read the logograms in the codices. Clavijero was transferred to the Colegio de San Javier in Puebla, also dedicated to the education of Indian youth. He taught there for three years. In 1764 he was transferred again, to Valladolid (now Morelia), to teach philosophy in the seminary there. More of a rationalist in philosophy than his predecessors, he was an innovator in the field. Good work in Valladolid got him promoted to the same position in Guadalajara. It was in Guadalajara that he finished his treatise Physica Particularis, which, together with Cursus Philosophicus, sets out his scientific and philosophical thought.

As part of the Bourbon Reforms in Spanish America and the general suppression of the Jesuits by European monarchs in the late eighteenth century, the Jesuits were expelled from all the Spanish dominations on June 25, 1767, on orders of King Charles III. When Clavijero left the colony, he went first to Ferrara, Italy, but soon relocated to Bologna, Italy, where he lived the rest of his life. In Italy he devoted his time to his historical investigations. Although he no longer had access to the Aztec codices, the reference works, and the accounts of the first Spanish conquistadors, he retained in his memory the information from his earlier studies. He was able to write the work he had always intended, La Historia Antigua de México In Italy a work by the Prussian Cornelius de Pauw came to his attention. It was entitled Philosophical Investigations Concerning the Americans. This work revealed to Clavijero the extent of European ignorance about the nature and culture of pre Columbian Americans, and spurred his work to show the true history of Mexico. He worked for years on his history, consulting Italian libraries and corresponding with friends in Mexico who answered his questions by consulting the original works there. Finally his work was ready. It consisted of ten volumes containing the narrative of Mexican culture from before the Spanish conquest. The original manuscript was in Spanish, but Father Clavijero translated it into Italian, with the help of some of his Italian friends. The book was published at Cesena in 1780 81, and was received by scholars with great satisfaction. It was soon translated into English and German. It was also translated back into Spanish, and went through numerous editions in Mexico. Much later (1945) the original was published in Spanish.