Biography.guide
Home › People › Poet › Ramón Xirau
Portrait of Ramón Xirau

Ramón Xirau

1924 – 2017

Mexican poet and philosopher

Don't just read it — keep itBiographies to ownE-book · Audio · Video From $7 →

About Ramón Xirau

Lived 1924 – 2017 (aged 93). Ramón Xirau was a Mexican and Spanish poet, philosopher, writer, literary critic and university teacher.

Ramón Xirau Subías (, ; 20 January 1924 – 26 July 2017) was a Catalan-born Mexican poet, philosopher and literary critic.

In 1939, as the Spanish Civil War was coming to an end, Xirau emigrated to Mexico where he obtained Mexican citizenship in 1955. He obtained a Master's Degree in philosophy at the UNAM and an honorary doctorate from the Universidad de las Américas. He was a research faculty member of the UNAM y and the National System of Researchers. At the UNAM he taught at the Faculty of Philosophy and Literature and did research at the Institute of Philosophy Research. He was a member of the Colegio Nacional since 1973.

Xirau received the Legion of Honour from France and the Isabel la Católica from Spain awards as well as the Creu de Sant Jordi from the Generalitat of Catalonia for his works in essay and academics in Spanish and Catalan literature. He also received the Elías Sourasky and the Premio Universidad Nacional awards at the UNAM. Professor Xirau is mostly known in the English speaking world as the co-author of The Nature of Man along with Erich Fromm (Macmillan 1968, ).

Other selected works Palabra y Silencio, Siglo XXI (1968) Tiempo Vivido: Acerca de Estar, Siglo XXI (1985) Entre la Poesía y el Conocimiento: Antología de Ensayos Críticos Sobre Poetas y Poesía Iberoamericanos, Fondo de Cultura Económica (2004) Introducción a la Historia de la Filsofía, UNAM (2009) Genio y Figura de Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (Tercera edición), El Colegio Nacional (2019)

Biography shop

Don’t just read it —
keep it.

Full-length biographies made to live with: read them, listen on the way to work, watch them tonight.

  • E-book
  • Audio
  • Video
Browse the shop — from $7

Instant download · yours to keep · every purchase keeps this site free

Important facts

Birth century
Nationality
Education
Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, UNAM
Employers
National Autonomous University of Mexico
Awards
Guggenheim Fellowship; Saint George's Cross; Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic; Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit; Magda Donato Award; Premio Mazatlán de Literatura; Honorary Doctorate from the National Autonomous University of Mexico; National Prize for Arts and Sciences; Honorary doctor of the Autonomous University of Barcelona; Alfonso Reyes International Prize
Also known as
Ramón Xirau Subías, Ramon Xirau

People in Ramón Xirau's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Ramón Xirau's

Frequently asked questions

Who was Ramón Xirau?

Mexican poet and philosopher

When was Ramón Xirau born?

Ramón Xirau was born on 20 January 1924 in Barcelona.

When did Ramón Xirau die?

Ramón Xirau died on 26 July 2017 in Mexico City.

What was Ramón Xirau's occupation?

Ramón Xirau was a poet, philosopher, writer, literary critic and university teacher.

What nationality was Ramón Xirau?

Ramón Xirau was Mexican and Spanish.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Ramón Xirau

· Wikidata: Q4893008

· DBpedia: Ramón Xirau

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Ramón Xirau. https://biography.guide/ramon-xirau/

MLA: "Ramón Xirau." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/ramon-xirau/.

Chicago: "Ramón Xirau." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/ramon-xirau/.

Data last updated: 2026-09-20 · Spot an error? Report a correction.

Portrait: Wikimedia Commons · author & licence

Page generated 2026-09-27 04:57 UTC