Librado Silva Galeana诞辰78周年标志

Librado Silva Galeana 诞辰 78 周年
2020年8月17日

Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Chihuahua-based guest artist Raul Urias, celebrates Mexican translator, teacher, researcher, and author Librado Silva Galeana, an expert in the ancient Nahuatl language that was spoken within Mexico’s Aztek and Toltec civilizations. Galeana is widely known for his Spanish translation of a 16th-century collection of Nahuatl oral history called Huehuetlahtolli: Testimonies of the Old Word, in addition to many other Nahuatl poems and stories that encapsulate Mexico’s rich history and culture.

Librado Silva Galeana was born on this day in 1942 in Santa Ana Tlacotenco, Mexico. His parents were both Nahuatl speakers and passed the language down to Galeana. Fueled by a love of linguistics, he studied to become a teacher and dedicated much of his academic work to the preservation and promotion of his mother tongue of Nahuatl.

In the mid-1970s, he collaborated with fellow Nahuatl teachers to found the Ignacio Ramírez Social and Cultural Circle, a group named after the famed 19th-century Mexican writer and dedicated to the study of the language. Throughout his career, Galeana carried on Ramírez’s legacy of championing indigenous languages and knowledge. He contributed his expertise in Nahuatl to a variety of scholarly research in order to develop a deeper understanding of the indigenous heritage that helped to shape modern Mexico.

In recognition of his efforts to conserve the Nahuatl language and culture, Galeana was awarded the Nezahualcóyotl Prize for Indigneous Languages by Mexico’s Federal District Department in 1994.

Happy birthday, Librado Silva Galeana, and thank you for helping to preserve and celebrate culture.