2600:1003:A011:E418:3011:DA73:6DCA:DF54: /* Career */

2025-06-29T04:53:38Z

Career

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{{short description|Hispanic American Friar minor, priest, historian, author, poet, and painter}}
{{more citations needed|date=April 2014}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Angelico Chavez, O.F.M.
| image = AngelicoChavezStatueSantaFeNM.JPG
| imagesize =
| caption = Statue of Angelico Chavez
| pseudonym =
| birth_name = Manuel Ezequiel Chávez
| birth_date = April 10, 1910
| birth_place = [[Wagon Mound, New Mexico]], U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1996|3|18|1910|4|10}}
| death_place = [[Santa Fe, New Mexico]], U.S.
| occupation = {{flatlist|
* Friar minor
* priest
* writer
* painter
* historian
}}
| nationality =
| period =
| genre =
| subject = New Mexico history
| movement =
| notableworks = "The Virgin of Port Lligat"<br/>''My Penitente Land''
| spouse =
| partner =
| children =
| relatives =
| awards =
| signature =
| website =
}}
'''Angelico Chavez, O.F.M.''' (April 10, 1910 – March 18, 1996), was a Latino [[Friar Minor]], [[Priesthood in the Catholic Church|priest]], historian, author, poet and painter.<ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/trail-dust-new-mexico-s-biblical-landscape-might-feed-spirituality/article_06bc5b8e-5879-5888-ae95-54387325f2c4.html|title= Trail Dust: New Mexico's biblical landscape might feed spirituality|date= December 19, 2014|work= Santa Fe New Mexico}}</ref> "Angelico" was his pen name; he also dropped the accent marks from this name.<ref>[[Marta Weigle|Weigle, Marta]]. Preface to ''Brothers of Light, Brothers of Blood'' (Sunstone Press, 2007) p. xiii.</ref>

==Early life==
Born the first of ten children to Fabián Chávez and María Nicolasa [[Roybal]] de Chávez in [[Wagon Mound, New Mexico|Wagon Mound]], [[New Mexico]], Chavez was [[Baptism|baptized]] with the name '''Manuel Ezequiel'''. He was a 12th-generation New Mexican, whose family had been in the area since the first colonial settlement of 1598.<ref name="thomas">{{cite news |last1=Thomas Jr. |first1=Robert McG |title=Fray Angelico Chavez, 85, Priest and Chronicler of New Mexico |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/22/arts/no-headline-020435.html |accessdate=1 September 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=22 March 1996}}</ref> In 1912, his family moved to [[San Diego, California]], where his father worked for the [[Panama–California Exposition]]. The [[Spanish missions in California|missions]] he was exposed to in California inspired him to follow in the footsteps of [[Junípero Serra]] and the other [[Missionary|missionaries]] to the [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]].

==Education==
Returning to New Mexico, Chavez attended public schools in [[Mora, New Mexico|Mora]], staffed by members of the [[Sisters of Loretto]]. In 1924, at the age of 14, Chavez was admitted to St. Francis Seminary in [[Mount Healthy, Ohio]], a suburb of [[Cincinnati, Ohio|Cincinnati]].

While at the seminary, Chavez endeavored to improve his English (his second language) 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.

As a member of the first class to inhabit the seminary's new dormitory, Chavez was allowed to paint murals of [[Francis of Assisi]] and [[Anthony of Padua]] on its walls.

On August 15, 1929, Chavez was received in the [[novitiate]] of the Friars Minors and received the Franciscan [[Religious habit|habit]]. Due to his potential as a visual artist, he was given the [[religious name]] "Frater Angélico" after the [[Dominican Order|Dominican]] priest and painter [[Fra Angelico]] from [[Florence]]. He continued his studies at [[Duns Scotus College]] in [[Detroit]], graduating in 1933. He studied for four more years before being ordained in 1937 at [[Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi|Saint Francis Cathedral]] in [[Santa Fe, New Mexico|Santa Fe]], the first native New Mexican Franciscan priest.

While Fray Angélico was the first native New Mexican Franciscan priest, two female first-cousins from Nacimiento, New Mexico had entered the Franciscan order as religious sisters in April 1914.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}} So, they were the first native New Mexicans to become Franciscans. Elsira Montoya and Dolores Lucero entered religious life in St. Louis, Missouri and spent the remaining 70 and 75 years of their lives as Franciscan nuns.

==Priesthood==
Chavez was assigned to the parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe in [[Pena Blanca, New Mexico|Peña Blanca]] and its missions in [[Jemez Pueblo, New Mexico|Jémez Pueblo]] and [[Los Cerrillos, New Mexico|Los Cerrillos]]. At Peña Blanca, he undertook a revitalization of the church building, painting frescoes on its walls. He was his own model for the figure of [[Pontius Pilate]], and also used locals and three of his sisters as figure models. He also ministered to the local [[Native Americans in the United States| Native Americans]] of [[San Felipe Pueblo, New Mexico|San Felipe Pueblo]], [[Santo Domingo Pueblo, New Mexico|Santo Domingo Pueblo]], and the [[Pueblo of Cochiti]].

During [[World War II]], Chavez attended the chaplaincy school at [[Harvard University]] and was placed with the [[77th Infantry Division (United States)|77th Infantry Division]]. He was present for the beach landings of [[Guam]] and [[Leyte (island)|Leyte]]. He continued his military service during the [[Korean War]] as chaplain at [[Fort Bliss, Texas|Fort Bliss]], [[Texas]], and [[Kaiserslautern]], Germany.

==Career==
Upon his return from the battlefield, Chavez was appointed [[archivist]] of the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santa Fe|Archdiocese of Santa Fe]] and undertook the cataloging and translation of its Spanish [[archive]]s.<ref name="thomas"/> 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 [[Historical revisionism|revisionist]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}} For example, his view of the [[Pueblo Revolt]] of 1680, unorthodox in its minimization of the role of [[Popé]] and its emphasis on the [[Indigenous]] element, was based primarily on previously-unconsidered genealogical data.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

Chavez' biography of [[Antonio José Martínez]] (1793–1867), ''But Time and Chance'', was the first of a trilogy of biographies on significant native New Mexican priests.

::''But Time and Chance'' is a scholarly and balanced treatment of the Cura de Taos whose life story had been distorted by some authors. In 1846, General Stephen W. Kearny swore Martínez as the first United States citizen of the Territory of New Mexico. Within six months, however, his political enemies wrongly alleged that Padre Martinez instigated the Taos Uprising of 1847—one of the last events of the US–Mexican War. Padre Martínez was very influential in New Mexico and beyond as a religious figure, rancher, educator, author and publisher, lawyer, and politician. He was in conflict with his superior Bishop Lamy regarding the issue of tithing and other matters. As a result, Martinez suffered ecclesiastical censure in 1858. When he died in 1867, his peers in the Territorial Assembly called him "La Honra de Su Pais", the honor of his homeland.

Among the general populace, Chavez is most known for the book entitled ''La Conquistadora, the Autobiography of an Ancient Statue''. This work told the story, in a first-person narrative, of a [[La Conquistadora|statue of the Virgin Mary]] brought from Spain over 400 years ago, through Mexico to New Mexico. The statue resides in [[Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi|St. Francis Cathedral]] to this day and is a misguided part of the religious history of the Latino people of [[Northern New Mexico]].

Chavez also wrote [[short story|short stories]], [[novel]]s, and poetry. His poem ''The Virgin of Port Lligat'', based on [[Salvador Dalí]]'s ''[[The Madonna of Port Lligat]]'', was selected as one of the best books of 1959 by the Catholic Library Association and was praised by [[T. S. Eliot]] as a "very commendable achievement".<ref>Genaro M. Padilla, "Introduction", ''The Short Stories of Fray Angelico Chavez'', U of New Mexico Press, p. viii.</ref> As Chavez scholar Genaro M. Padilla notes, "despite [his] outpouring of history, poetry, and fiction, Fray Angelico Chavez has been largely overlooked as one of the pioneers of Chicano [sic] literature in century".<ref>Padilla, "Introduction", p. x.</ref>

In 1971, he left the priesthood following a "crisis of faith", but retained his standing as a priest while continuing his writing and research. He returned to the priesthood and the Franciscan Order in 1989 and lived at the friary at the Cathedral in Santa Fe. He died on March 18, 1996, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, at the age of 85.<ref name="thomas"/>

Chavez was buried in Rosario Cemetery, having earlier refused burial in St. Francis Cathedral in Santa Fe.{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}} The Museum of New Mexico at the [[Palace of the Governors]] named the new history and photographic library in his honor following his death, and a bronze statue of his likeness is displayed at the entrance.<ref>Harrelson, Barbara. ''Walks in Literary Santa Fe''. Gibbs Smith. 2007. [https://books.google.com/books?id=1OCqqRi0OWUC&pg=PA22 22] {{dead link|date=December 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}.</ref> Judge Harry Long Bigbee was the donor of the statue.<ref>"[http://www.historicsantafe.org/Bulletins/1998EdwinBrooksHouse.pdf Vol 25, No. 2] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160825180718/http://www.historicsantafe.org/Bulletins/1998EdwinBrooksHouse.pdf |date=August 25, 2016 }}." ''Bulletin of the Historic Santa Fe Association''. December 1998. Retrieved on August 21, 2009.</ref> In August 2020, the statue along with the walls of the museum were defaced with spray paint. The walls were marked with the words "stolen land" and "1680", an apparent reference to the Pueblo Revolt, an event chronicled by Chavez in what has been criticized as a revisionist interpretation.<ref name="last">{{cite news |last1=Last |first1=T.S.|title=Another monument vandalized in Santa Fe |url=https://www.abqjournal.com/1485523/another-monument-vandalized-in-santa-fe.html |accessdate=12 September 2020 |publisher=Albuquerque Journal |date=11 August 2020}}</ref>

==Honorary degrees==
* Master of Arts, [[University of New Mexico]], 1947
* Doctor of Letters, [http://www.stjosephontheriogrande.org/index.htm College of St. Joseph on the Rio Grande]{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, Albuquerque, 1963
*[[Juris Doctor|Doctor of Law]], [[New Mexico State University]], Las Cruces, 1973
* [[Doctor of Humane Letters]], University of New Mexico, 1974

==Publications==

===Non-fiction===
* ''But time and chance: the story of Padre Martinez of Taos, 1793-1867''. Santa Fe: Sunstone Press, 1981. {{ISBN|0-913270-95-4}}
* ''La Conquistadora: the autobiography of an ancient statue''. Santa Fe: Sunstone Press, 1975. {{ISBN|0-913270-43-1}}
* ''Coronado's friars''. Washington: Academy of American Franciscan History, 1968.
* ''My Penitente land: reflections on Spanish New Mexico''. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1974. {{ISBN|0-8263-0334-X}}
*''Chávez : a distinctive American clan of New Mexico''. Santa Fe, N.M. : W. Gannon, 1989. ISBN 0-88307-675-6
*[[Origins of New Mexico Families|''Origins of New Mexico families: a genealogy of the Spanish colonial period'']]. Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico Press, 1992. {{ISBN|0-89013-239-9}}

===Fiction===
* ''When the Santos Talked; A Retablo of New Mexico Tales -- Drawings by Peter Hurd''. Santa Fe: W. Gannon, 1977.
* ''New Mexico Triptych: being three panels and three accounts''. Santa Fe: W. Gannon, 1976.
* ''From an altar screen; El [[Retablo]]: tales from New Mexico''. Freeport, N.Y., Books for Libraries Press, 1969. {{Listed Invalid ISBN|0-8361-3031-2}}
* ''The Lady from Toledo''. Fresno, California: Academy Guild Press, 1960.

===Poetry===
* ''The Virgin of Port Lligat''.
* ''Eleven Lady-lyrics, and other poems''. Paterson, New Jersey: St. Anthony Guild Press, 1945.
* ''Cantares: canticles and poems of youth, 1925-1932''. Edited and with an introduction by [[Nasario García]]. Houston: Arte Público Press, 2000. {{ISBN|1-55885-311-1}}
* ''Selected poems, with an apologia.'' Santa Fe: Press of the Territorian, 1969

==Bibliographical Resources==
https://faculty.ucmerced.edu/mmartin-rodriguez/index_files/vhChavezAngelico.htm

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|Literature|Poetry}}
*[[Christianity in the United States]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Chavez, Fray Angelico, ''The Virgin of Port Lligat'' The Filmer Brothers Press, 1956
* Chavez, Fray Angelico, ''My Penitente Land'' Museum of New Mexico, copyright, 1974 {{ISBN|0-89013-255-0}}
*{{cite book
|editor-last = McCracken
|editor-first = Ellen
|authorlink =
|title = Fray Angélico Chávez: poet, priest, and artist
|publisher = University of New Mexico Press
|year = 2000
|location = Albuquerque
|pages =
|url =
|doi =
|isbn = 0-8263-2007-4}}

==External links==
*[http://www.palaceofthegovernors.org/library.html Fray Angélico Chávez History Library] at the Palace of the Governors, New Mexico
*[http://rmoa.unm.edu/docviewer.php?docId=nmsm1ac040.xml Fray Angélico Chávez Collection], New Mexico History Museum, Fray Angélico Chávez History Library

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chavez, Angelico}}
[[Category:1910 births]]
[[Category:1996 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century American poets]]
[[Category:20th-century American historians]]
[[Category:American Friars Minor]]
[[Category:American people of Galician descent]]
[[Category:20th-century American Roman Catholic priests]]
[[Category:American male novelists]]
[[Category:United States Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:20th-century American short story writers]]
[[Category:Artists from Santa Fe, New Mexico]]
[[Category:Harvard University alumni]]
[[Category:Hispanic and Latino American novelists]]
[[Category:Hispanic and Latino American poets]]
[[Category:Hispanic and Latino American short story writers]]
[[Category:Military personnel from New Mexico]]
[[Category:Hispanos of New Mexico]]
[[Category:People from Mora County, New Mexico]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santa Fe]]
[[Category:United States Army officers]]
[[Category:Writers from Santa Fe, New Mexico]]
[[Category:Writers from San Diego]]
[[Category:American male poets]]
[[Category:American male short story writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:American male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Catholics from New Mexico]]
[[Category:Historians from California]]

Angelico Chavez - Revision history

2600:1003:A011:E418:3011:DA73:6DCA:DF54: /* Career */