Leopoldo Zea Aguilar

One of the integral Latin Americanism thinkers in history, Zea became famous thanks to his master's thesis, El Positivismo en México (Positivism in Mexico, 1943), in which he applied and studied positivism in the context of his country and the world during the transition between the 19th and 20th centuries. With it he began the defense of American Integration, first suggested by the Liberator and Statesman Simón Bolívar, giving it his own interpretation based in the context of neocolonialism during the separation of the American Empire and Mexico.

Zea was associated with the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) beginning with his training as a professor and philosopher in 1943. In 1947, he founded the Faculty of Philosophy and gave lectures on History of Ideas in America. In 1954, he was appointed to a full-time position as a researcher at the Philosophical Studies Center of the university. In 1966, he became director of the college, holding this position until 1970. During his time as Director he founded the Latin American Studies College (in 1966) and later founded the Coordination and Propagation Center of the UNAM Latin American Studies (1978). He received multiple awards including the Premio Nacional de Ciencias y Artes in 1980, the Premio Interamericano de Cultura "Gabriela Mistral" (of the OAS) and the Medalla Belisario Domínguez (of the Senate of Mexico) in 2000. Three years later he was cataloged and honored by the UNAM as the oldest professor to work continually without interruptions until his death.

Being of poor origin, Zea worked in 1933 in the office of Telégrafos Nacionales to help afford the costs of his secondary and university education.

Leopoldo Zea Aguilar (June 30, 1912 – June 8, 2004) was a Mexican philosopher.