Samuel Ramos facts for kids

Samuel Ramos Magaña (1897 – June 20, 1959) was an important Mexican thinker and writer. He earned a PhD in philosophy and spent his life exploring what it means to be Mexican.

Early Life and Education

Samuel Ramos was born in Zitácuaro, a city in Michoacán, Mexico. In 1909, he started studying at the Colegio de San Nicolás Hidalgo, which was Michoacán's state university. He began writing and publishing his first works in the school's student magazine, Flor de Loto.

Around 1915, Samuel Ramos decided to focus on philosophy. He learned a lot from his teacher and mentor, José Torres Orozco.

Becoming a Teacher and Philosopher

Samuel Ramos also studied medicine for a few years. He spent his first year of medical school in Morelia and then moved to Mexico City for his second and third years at the Military Medical School.

By 1919, he became a university teacher. He taught introductory philosophy at the National Preparatory School. He also taught logic and ethics at the National Teachers School.

To learn even more, he traveled to Europe. He studied at famous universities like the Sorbonne and the Collège de France in Paris, and also at a university in Rome. When he returned to Mexico, he continued teaching. He also worked for the Mexican government in the Ministry of Public Education.

In 1944, Samuel Ramos earned his doctorate in philosophy from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). He then became the head of the Faculty of Philosophy and Literature at UNAM. On July 8, 1952, he was invited to join the special Colegio Nacional, where he remained a member for the rest of his life.

Samuel Ramos's Ideas on Mexican Identity

Samuel Ramos's most famous work was about understanding the true nature of the Mexican nation. He wanted to figure out what makes Mexicans unique.

He studied a character he called the pelado. This was a term for a "street smart" or "tough" city person from the 1920s and 1930s. Ramos saw the pelado as a very clear example of the Mexican character.

He believed that the machismo (a strong, sometimes exaggerated, display of masculinity) shown by the pelado came from a feeling of not being good enough, which is called an inferiority complex. This idea was based on the work of another thinker named Alfred Adler.

Because Ramos thought the pelado represented the whole country, he used this idea to study all of Mexico. His work was one of the first attempts after the Mexican Revolution to understand and describe the national character of Mexico.

See also

In Spanish: Samuel Ramos para niños