Los padres Camacho y su museo: dos puntos de luz en el Campeche del siglo XIX

Abstract

The priests José María and Leandro Camacho were two Spanish brothers who lived in the city of Campeche during the first half of the nineteenth century. Educated but impoverished, these clerics formed a significant cabinet of pre-Hispanic antiquities, the first of its kind in the region and perhaps the oldest in Mexico dedicated to the ancient Maya. Little is known about their collection and much of the information we have comes from eyewitness accounts produced by travellers. The purpose of this article is to stitch together the varied fragments of their illustrious life to better understand the historical context of their intellectual pursuit, as well as to ascertain the final destiny of their collection. Furthermore, I will demonstrate that the Camacho’s effort to create a museum was used by members of the political class, and in particular Justo Sierra O’Reilly, to forge a regional identity that would serve the needs of a separatist agenda.