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Angélico Chávez

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Born: December 31 1909

Died: 3131 12 19951995

Fray Angélico Chávez was an American Franciscan Priest, historian, author, poet and painter. Born the first of 10 children he attended public schools in Mora. At the age of 14, Chávez was admitted to St. Francis Seminary in Ohio.

While at the seminary, Chávez endeavored to improve his English through a study of the classic literature of the language. He began writing fiction, essays, and other works at this time, several of which were published in the Brown and White, the student magazine he later edited.

In 1929, he officially became a novice and received the order's habit. Due to his promise as a visual artist, was given the religious name Frater Angélico after the Florentine painter Fra Angelico. He continued his studies in Detroit, graduating in 1933. He studied for four more years before being ordained at Saint Francis Cathedral in Santa Fe, the first native New Mexican Franciscan.

He was assigned to the parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Peña Blanca and its missions in Jémez Pueblo and Los Cerrillos.

After a career in the military during WWII and through the Korean War, Chávez was appointed archivist of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe and undertook the cataloguing and translation of its Spanish archives. This work provided new primary sources that allowed for a reevaluation of the history of New Mexico. He wrote the definitive work on the families of New Mexico, as well as many other works of history, some of which is considered revisionist.

He also wrote poetry, short stories and novels, including his 1974 book “My Penitente Land: Reflections on Spanish New Mexico.” Since his fictional works center on the history and culture of the Hispanic people of New Mexico, he is sometimes regarded as "the father of Chicano literature".

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Angélico Chávez

Angélico Chávez

Books from Angélico Chávez

The Short Stories of Fray Angelico Chavez

New Mexico Triptych

Guitars and Adobes, and the Uncollected Stories of Fray Angélico Chávez:

But Time and Change: The Story of Padre Martinez of Taos, 1793-1867

My Penitente Land: Reflections of Spanish New Mexico

Cantares: Canticles and Poems of Youth

My Penitente land: Reflections on Spanish New Mexico