Layera, Ramon

Diplomat, translator, historian, drama critic, but above all playwright Rodolfo Usigli can be described as one of the founders of modern Mexican drama. He was born in Mexico City in 1905, the son of immigrant parents. Forced to leave school to work after his father's death, Usigli was largely self-educated. In 1935 he received a Rockefeller scholarship to study drama direction and composition at Yale University. Returning to Mexico he taught drama at the university level and worked for the Institute of Fine Arts, reviewed plays, translated poetry and drama from both English and French, and wrote his own plays, including his signature piece El Gesticulador (The Impostor). Unable to establish himself as a dramatist and encountering political opposition, Usigli entered the diplomatic corps and served for over two decades in France, Lebanon and Norway. During this diplomatic exile, he continued to write essays and drama, completing his great trilogy of Mexican history, the Corona plays (Corona de Sombra, Corona de Luz and Corona de Fuego). He was interested in the theater from a very early age, working his first acting job at age 11. By the time he was 30, he had published two books about Mexican theater and one three act play, published poems, essays and literary and dramatic criticism, served as director of the Radiophonic Theatre of the Ministry of Education, in charge of the Press Bureau of the Presidency of Mexico and worked in the Radio Office of the Ministry of Education. Usigli was a product of the Mexican Revolution. In common with most members of the artistic and intellectual community who lived through that tumultuous period, Usigli was a reformist. Usigli dedicated his life and considerable talent to a project of cultural and artistic renovation and transformation which concentrated almost exclusively on the dramatic arts. Recognized as the "apostle of Mexican drama" for his unswerving dedication to the establishment of an authentic national theatre company, he acted, directed, and wrote theatre reviews and a manual of dramatic theory and composition. He helped establish Mexico's most representative and best-known drama classics. He worked at the MexicanU embassy in Paris from 1944-1946 during which time he met Octavio Paz. They remained friends until 1968 when they separated due to political views. From 1959-1962 he served as Mexican Ambassador in Lebanon. From there he went to Norway where he served as Mexican Ambassador from 1962-1971. In 1972 he received the "Premio Nacional de Letras de Mexico."

From the guide to the Rodolfo Usigli Archive: Correspondence, 1927-1979, (Miami University)