Julio Torri

Education

He began his schooling in Colegio Torreón and later in the Escuela Juan Antonio de la Fuente, both in Saltillo. In 1908 he travelled to Mexico City and in 1913 obtained a law degree from the National Law School; in 1933 he was awarded a doctorate in letters from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM).

He formed part of the Ateneo de la Juventud, a literary generation that also included Rafael Cabrera, Jesus T. Acevedo, Alfonso Cravioto, Antonio Caso, Ricardo Gómez Robledo, Enrique González Martínez, Pedro Henríquez Ureña, Salvador Novo, Alfonso Reyes, Diego Rivera, José Vasconcelos, and Luis G. Urbina. He engaged from 1914 to 1922 in voluminous correspondence with Alfonso Reyes, who during that time was residing in Europe. From 1916 to 1923 he co-edited with Agustín Loera the editorial Cultura. He was founder and director of the SEP's Departamento de Bibliotecas (Department of Libraries) and served as its literary classics editor. In 1921 he founded, along with Xavier Guerrero, José Clemente Orozco, and Vicente Lombardo Toledano, the syndicalist Grupo Solidario del Movimiento Obrero. He taught literature for nearly half a century at several institutions, including the National Preparatory School, the UNAM, and for various summers at the University of Texas, holding from 1953 onward the title of UNAM Emeritus Professor. He undertook poetic and pedagogical ambassadorships to countries like Argentina, Brazil, and the United States, while a trip to Europe in 1952 inspired some of his writing. In 2001 CONACULTA and the Coahuilan Institute of Culture (Icocult) established the Premio Nacional de Cuento Joven Julio Torri, a prize for young writers that honors Julio Torri.

Family

His nephew, Julio Torri Cervi (1932–2003), was a famous eccentric who lived for a time in Tulancingo.