Aureliano Urrutia, Sr. (6 June 1872 – 14 August 1975) was a Mexican-born physician. He served as the Minister of Interior under Victoriano Huerta in Mexico but subsequently spent most of his life and career in the United States.

Aureliano Urrutia
Secretary of the Interior
In office
13 June 1913 – 14 September 1913
PresidentVictoriano Huerta
Preceded byAlberto García Granados
Succeeded byManuel Garza Aldape
Personal details
Born
Aureliano Urrutia Sandoval

(1872-06-06)6 June 1872
Mexico City, D.F., Mexico
Died14 August 1975(1975-08-14) (aged 102)
San Antonio, Texas, U.S.

Biography

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Urrutia was born in Xochimilco, Federal District, Mexico, on June 6, 1872, the son of Pedro Urrutia and Refugio Sandoval, of indigenous descent. He studied in Xochimilco and Mexico City.[1] Urrutia earned a degree in medicine from the National School of Medicine in 1890 and was considered the best student of his generation. In 1893 he served as a military doctor in the territory of Quintana Roo.[2] Later he became a member of the 3rd battalion stationed in Chilpancingo; there he met General Victoriano Huerta, who many years later, in June 1913, appointed Urrutia to the position of Minister of the Interior. After a few months, he resigned from that post and returned to his profession as a surgeon.[3] As the political situation across Mexico was deteriorating around this time, Urrutia in 1914 moved his family to Veracruz, where he and his family were seized by American troops and taken to Galveston, Texas. From there they moved to San Antonio, where he lived for the remainder of his life, practicing and teaching medicine.[4]

In San Antonio, Urrutia built a home, which he named Quinta Urrutia, then, in 1921, another property named Miraflores. The grounds and gardens of Miraflores feature extensive statuary and other classical and Mexican indigenous art. Miraflores has been preserved and as of the 2020s there are no plans for restoration.[5]

Urrutia died on August 15, 1975, in San Antonio, Texas.[6]

Publications

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References

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  1. ^ Urrutia, Anne Elise (2016-10-02). "Miraflores: Dr. Urrutia's Lost Garden". San Antonio Report. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
  2. ^ Urrutia Martínez, Cristina (2008). Aureliano Urrutia: Del Crimen Político al Exilio (in Spanish). México DF: Tiempo de Memoria Tusquets.
  3. ^ Urrutia Martínez, Cristina (2008). Aureliano Urrutia: Del Crimen Político al Exilio. México DF: Tiempo de Memoria Tusquets.
  4. ^ Urrutia, Anne Elise (2022). Miraflores: San Antonio's Mexican Garden of Memory. San Antonio, Texas: Trinity University Press. pp. 1–11. ISBN 978-1-59534-936-1.
  5. ^ Urrutia, Anne Elise (2022). Miraflores: San Antonio's Mexican Garden of Memory. San Antonio: Trinity University Press. pp. 1–11. ISBN 978-1-59534-936-1.
  6. ^ "Aureliano Urrutia,104, Is Dead; Surgeon, Mexican Revolutionary". Associated Press in The New York Times. August 16, 1975. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
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