Rotonda de pelonas ilustres

Amigos de la forma, los foxianos/foxistas derrocharon discusión en argumentar a favor del cambio de la Rotonda de Ilustres de Hombres Ilustres a Personas Ilustres. El debate nos puso a todos a contar la triste realidad: en aquel ilustre sitio de reposo yacen 3 (hoy tal vez ya sean cuatro) damas y 104 (tal vez más ya) caballeros. Qué mayor evidencia de la desigualdad. Esperemos que unida a la comparsa de ilustres, doña Emma Godoy, haya armado buen escándalo entre tanto distinguido. Este altar lo monté en el año 2004 y, por ende, el primer año en que pasó a ser patrimonio intangible de la humanidad el día de los muertos.

Dolores is the name of a cemetery, home to Illustrious Mexicans Pavillion. Actually, Dolores takes pride in its name being Panteón Civil de Dolores. At the time I mounted this altar there were only 3 women –Ángela Peralta, Virginia Fábregas and Rosario Castellanos- at the Rotonda de Ilustres, at a ratio of one to thirty some males. It is only the third year the Rotonda de Hombres Ilustres (Illustrious men section) was changed to Rotonda de Personas Ilustres –Illustrious Persons-. While the change was (and is) applauded, it pays homage to a culture of form, among elites, that easily finds its way around facing and tackling real issues.

The cost of individual crypts reflects a deep social divide. Permanent lots –a perpetuidad- are expensive, leaving mass tombs and ossuaries to the poor. At the Rotonda de Ilustres there are those who in life fought for a more egalitarian society, while been thrown into the elite of illustrious for their eternal rest. In Colonial Times cemeteries were a source of income for the clergy. The poor were buried outside the atrium; the rich had their niches closer to the altar -"closer to God" it was believed, as donors of the church were in reality and literally "paving their way to heaven".

As for the name of the Cemetery, built in 1875, it is not the virgin of Dolores, or actual "pain/ailment", extracted from its meaning. Dolores is named after Dolores Murrieta Galloso, the original proprietor of the land where the cemetery sits (otra tocaya). She did not live to see her project finished. She rests in piece at the cemetary she built.