Historians and Geographers of America – Pan American Institute of Geography and History

The Pan American Institute of Geography and History was created in 1928 with the primary objective of supporting and encouraging, among the countries of the American continent, cooperation for and international promotion for studies and work related to Geography, History, Cartography and Geophysics.

Since 1946, the year in which the History Section was founded, it was decided to set up a gallery that exhibits the portraits of the most notable historians and geographers of America. These were to be gathered by means of gifts from each one of the Members States of the PAIGH. The first countries to respond to this purpose were Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras and Mexico. From that moment onwards and up to 1970, the family of nations gradually provided to the General Secretariat the portraits of their respective representatives.

Among the visual artists who created these interesting works of art, the following are outstanding: the Basque Juan Cabanas, Colombians León Cano and Delio Ramírez, the Ecuadorians Luis Moscoso and Carlos Rodríguez, also the Mexicans Roberto Montenegro and José Clemente Orozco.

Over time, the Gallery of Geographers and Historians of America has become a major collection that gathers in the same space, those figures who dedicated their lives to recognizing and reconstructing the geography, the history and the identity of those countries that make up the American continent, besides being a well-earned homage to their legacy.

Special appreciation is given to the National Anthropology and History Library of Mexico, led by Dr. Baltazar Brito Guadarrama, for the research and drafting of the information statements, also for the photographic images taken of these portraits that are presented here.