Gregorio López y Fuentes 1897–1966

Mexican novelist, short story writer, poet, and editor.

López y Fuentes is one of the principal authors who wrote about the Mexican Revolution of 1910. His works focus directly or indirectly on the Revolution, especially on the ways it affected the Indians. In his first major novel, Campamento (1931), he describes one night in a military encampment, concentrating not on individual soldiers but on their group identity and circumstances. His next major novel, Tierra (1932), portrays the ten-year struggle, led by the Indian leader Emiliano Zapata, in which the indigenous Indians fight for their right to own land. López y Fuentes's best-known work, Elindio (1935), described by Isaac Goldberg as a "miniature epic," examines the political and social conditions of postrevolutionary Mexico by depicting life in a remote Indian village. As in Campamento, El indio employs a "mass protagonist"; individuals remain nameless and are of secondary importance to the characterization of the group as a whole. Many of López y Fuentes's novels, while supporting the aims of the Revolution, are critical of the way the reforms have been carried out. Critics praise López y Fuentes for conveying vividly and accurately the revolutionary era of Mexico.