Margarita López Portillo

Margarita López Portillo y Pacheco (1914–2006) was a Mexican novelist who earned several awards for her novels and also had three of them adapted for film. She was a public servant, serving under three presidents in various capacities of regulating media. During her brother José López Portillo's presidency (1976–1982), she received sharp criticism for his nepotism and failure to act on warnings of potential fire at the , a government-run film repository. She studied the works of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz and led an effort to restore the convent where Sor Juana had lived. In 1980, she was granted the French Order of Arts and Letters.

Biography Margarita López Portillo y Pacheco was born in 1914 in Guadalajara, Jalisco. Her family was one of intellectuals and military officers, as her grandfather José López Portillo y Rojas had been a writer, was a member of the Mexican Academy of Language and one-time governor of Jalisco. Her father, José López Portillo y Weber served as a cadet during the Ten Tragic Days in the service of President Francisco I. Madero. She graduated with a degree in letters from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and published her first book Los laureles in 1952. El Universal Gráfico awarded her the “Lanz Duret” Prize for her debut novel. In 1954, she was awarded the “Lanz Duret” Prize for her novel "Toña Machetes" and earned the Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize in 1956 and the Directorate General of Cinematography. Margarita was the victim of an attempted kidnapping by the Liga Comunista 23 de Septiembre, during which one of the leaders of the organization, David Jiménez Sarmiento, was killed. Upon assuming office, López Portillo made Margarita head of the General Directorate of Radio, Television and Cinematography (RTC), and she immediately reversed the policy of the previous administration. The previous policy had drastically reduced the number of films produced by denying credit to any private film producers, virtually requiring official participation in all filmmaking. However, while Margarita's policy increased production, it did not improve the quality of films being produced. She was also appointed head of the Mexican Social Security Institute during her brother's presidency from 1976 to 1982.

She died on 9 May 2006.

Selected works

Written works Los Laureles Mexico (1952) Tierra bronca Mexico: Botas (1956) Los días de la voz México: Porrúa (1975) Estampas de Juana Ines de la Cruz Lapéox México: Editora del Sureste (1978) Sor Juana México: Fomento Cultural Banamex (1979) Los Registros de bienes y la investigación histórica México: Instituto de Estudios y Documentos Históricos (1980)

Screenwriting Historical telenovela Maximiliano y Carlota (1965) Estampas de Sor Juana (1980) Toña Machetes (1985)