Elena Poniatowska: The Ponzanelli family

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The Ponzanelli surname in Mexico is closely linked to sculpture. Years ago, I visited a cemetery in honor of missing journalists. Among several monuments, I saw a bust of Miguel Ángel Granados Chapa and, I think, another of Manuel Buendía. All these marble tombstones, adorned with bold lettering, were the work of sculptors from the Ponzanelli family, with whom I'm now speaking.

–I am Pedro Ramírez Ponzanelli and I am 52 years old.

–Years ago, your father made me a very beautiful head with equally beautiful hair for the journalists' cemetery, but I was resurrected, and the great sculptor Ponzanelli had to keep it in his house until further notice. However, I did know the place where it would be unveiled alongside other beloved colleagues who have preceded me, like Manuel Buendía…

–I think it was my grandfather who made his effigy, Elena…

–I visited the journalists' pantheon. It's located on a piece of land dotted with bronze busts, including those of Miguel Ángel Granados Chapa, a native of Pachuca, and Manuel Buendía, who were prominent political analysts in the 1940s, 1950s, and almost into the 1970s. I believe this site is called the Park of Illustrious Journalists.

I am the son of Rosa María Ponzanelli, who in turn is the daughter of Octavio Ponzanelli, after whom the entire Ponzanelli dynasty is named. Rosa María Ponzanelli was a prominent sculptor: she created a 9-meter-high monument to Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz in Tlalnepantla, and it caused a sensation. She also created the first monument to Universal Woman, with a view to growth, as it was possible to consider placing other outstanding women there. The sculpture of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz is a great emblem of feminine strength, very different from what is praised today. At that time, the goal was to recognize feminine greatness, and we didn't have a monument to Universal Woman in Mexico, although we do have one to Mother, very well located, which on May 10th of each year becomes an ideal place to pay tribute to women. In fact, many families, in addition to the usual passers-by, come that day to the Monument to Mother in Melchor Ocampo Plaza and leave bouquets of flowers at the foot of the statue.

“When a monument collapsed in the earthquake in 1917, the renowned architect Gabriel Mérigo Basurto restored it. I had the honor of being called to work alongside him, and he was an exceptional mentor.”

Feminists used to gather at the Mother Monument, like the unforgettable Martha Acevedo, who brought together a large number of women thanks to her talent and commitment. I remember seeing the economist Ifigenia Martínez standing there on the esplanade next to the delegate, who announced that she had decided to erect monuments to other outstanding women, and Ifigenia celebrated this initiative with great enthusiasm.

–I had the honor of making a bust of the teacher Ifigenia Martínez, which hangs in her home on Dulce Olivia Street in Coyoacán. This home is now also a major foundation because Ifigenia hosted Andrés Manuel López Obrador in the fronton of that house when he was a candidate and offered it to him for future meetings with followers and supporters. Ifigenia Martínez didn't have children; some of her nieces and nephews always accompanied her at her political and cultural gatherings, as she also strongly and committedly supported the founding of Siglo XXI Editores…

–When I made the bust of the teacher, Ifigenia was always surrounded by family and young economists from the National Autonomous University of Mexico who accompanied her at all times.

–In her living room she had a huge portrait of herself, but I don't remember who the painter was.

"I made two busts of her, one that remained at her foundation and a smaller one for which she posed several times and which was mounted in her living room. The Turcott Quinteros had the stables that overlooked Río and Oxtopulco Streets, behind the large department store on the corner of Miguel Ángel de Quevedo and Universidad. My mother is Ponzanelli Quintero, and the Turcott Quinteros were her first cousins, and they told me they witnessed the construction of the beautiful stone bridges of the Seminary of the Order of the Holy Spirit, and how they remodeled the river to allow crossing. On one side of the river stood a women's prison, or prison for minor offenders, which is still there and is called the Girls' Rehabilitation Center. It is located in a beautiful garden now run by the government, but was previously run by nuns, Elena." My family came from Polanco, as they lived in what was once the Alliance Française mansion, and Elena Quintero Álvarez—my grandmother—from Guanajuato bought a house three blocks from the center of Coyoacán on Moctezuma Street, as noted by the great writer Salvador Novo, who lived on the street now called Dolores del Río to pay homage to the actress, who also lived among us. In short, all those houses were built on an immense plot of land that Doña Soledad Orozco de Ávila Camacho donated to a religious order. The gardens lead to Cerrada del Pedregal, which also includes a retirement home for the wealthy, well-staffed by nuns. All the tenants are allowed to furnish their bedrooms with their mementos and family belongings, furniture, and paintings. The priests who officiate daily Mass live in the adjacent Cerrada del Pedregal, which has nothing to do with the famous Pedregal, and which the great architect, Luis Barragán, who never studied at any university, transformed into a paradise of black volcanic stones. Enrique Salinas, brother of President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, also lived in that same Cerrada del Pedregal.