Hello ladies and gents this is the Viking telling you that today we are talking about
Francisco González Bocanegra's 198th Birthday
Today’s Doodle celebrates the 198th birthday of the Mexican poet and playwright who authored the lyrics of Himno Nacional Mexicano, or the Mexican National Anthem—Francisco González Bocanegra.
On this day in 1824, Francisco González Bocanegra was born in San Luis Potosí into a Spanish family. Following the federal mandate for all Spaniards to leave Mexico in 1829, Bocanegra spent seven years in Spain before returning to Mexico at 12 years old. He moved to Mexico City in 1849, where he joined the capital’s literary community and established himself as a poet.
In 1853, officials from the Mexican government invited the nation’s poets to compose the lyrics to the National Anthem. Though interested in the challenge, Bocanegra’s modesty kept him from participating in the contest. He mentioned the competition to his girlfriend who employed an unconventional yet effective motivational strategy—locking the young author in a room with a promise to only let him out once he finished the song’s lyrics. Four hours later, Bocanegra slipped the finished product—ten stanzas in Italian octaves—under the door.
His submission won, and on the eve of Mexico’s Independence Day in 1854, Bocanegra’s anthem was sung for the first time at the Santa Ana Theater (known today as the National Theater). This hymn was adopted by the government as the nation’s official anthem in 1943, and the rest is history! Today, his words remain immortalized in the Mexican National Anthem and have been translated into 12 different Indigenous languages spoken throughout the nation.
And as always have a chilled day from the Viking
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