By Bill Wilson, Deputy Editor
"Learning never exhausts the mind."
- Leonardo Da Vinci
Jesús Ibarra’s road to San Miguel de Allende began in Mexico City and ended in a field of artichokes. Jesús, the Academic Director of our town’s famous Instituto Allende, was born in Mexico City and received a degree in agronomy, and set out for a career in agriculture.
He arrived in San Miguel de Allende in 1993, to manage the farms of Conservas San Miguel, which primarily produces artichokes.
While looking for a career change, he spied an ad for an English writer at Atención, our city’s beloved and now defunct bilingual weekly newspaper. Working as a newspaper editor, teacher and author, he was, and is, one of our town’s most notable journalists.
When asked if he thought of himself as a renaissance man, he replied, "I am more a researcher."
It quite evident by the five books he has written: “Los Bracho, tres generaciones de cine mexicano”; “Carmen Montejo: una mujer alta”; “El Jardinero de Fantasmas, vida y obra de Carlos Ancira”; “José Mojica, Dulce Renunciación”; and "San Miguel de Allende: su ADN".
His book, "San Miguel de Allende: su ADN" (in English-San Miguel: Its DNA) was first published last year and is a history of San Miguel. Published by the Instituto Allende it was sold out and now in January of 2025 will be published in English.
In addition to being an author and journalist, Jesus has been interviewed about the Mexican cinema. There was a time in the 1940s, that Mexico had a prolific film industry. It was dubbed “The Golden Age,” and Jesus has given lecturers on this subject.
His love for the Mexican cinema and history are feelings he developed over time. For the cinema, he found his love when his grandmother would take him to the pictures. And his interest in history is reflected in his research about his family which dates back to the 17th century and his latest book.
At the end of 2005, he left the agriculture company, and in early 2006, he began working as a bilingual reporter for the newspaper Atención San Miguel. There over the years he worked with the expat community helping to edit and produce a lively publication. In 2009, he was appointed editor-in-chief of the newspaper. At the same time, he had been teaching English at the Universidad de León, San Miguel de Allende campus, since 2006.
In 2014, he left Atención San Miguel and began giving historical-themed tours in English.
Then in June 2019, there was a turn of events. Rodolfo Fernández-Martínez Harris invited him to take on the role of Academic Director at the Instituto Allende, a position he still holds. Ibarra is pleased to be a part of the venerable institution which has played such a part in the formation of San Miguel as we know it today.
As Ibarra explained, “The Instituto Allende has played a great role in San Miguel since its formation in 1950 when then State Governor Enrique Fernández Martínez and Nell Harris, Fernandez’ American wife, made ties with the University of Guanajuato offering a Master’s degree in Fine Arts. The rest is ‘history’ - as enticed by the possibility of obtaining academic credit for studies in Mexico, a large number of American students, some on the GI Bill and some not, found in San Miguel de Allende a place to come back to often, and usually brought a friend or two along, further strengthening the town’s economy and giving it a reputation as a cultural center.”
Through the decades, the Instituto has kept moving forward, with visionary leadership at the helm. Over the years, it has grown stronger by establishing relationships with art and language schools in Mexico and abroad. Jesús Ibarra has contributed to this growth through is work as Academic Director and also by participating in the Instituto’s Life Long Learning program, teaching courses on Mexican cinema and the history of México and San Miguel de Allende. Jesús has left a big mark in San Miguel as a journalist, author and educator and we have his love for history, film and news to be thankful for in this latest chapter of San Miguel.
And when he is not working or writing he spends time at his ranch. He says with a wry smile, “And my wife even planted some artichokes for me.”
About the Instituto: Located at Ancha de San Antonio 22, Centro, San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato
Monday – Friday 9:00 am – 6:00 pm
Saturday 9:00 am – 1:00 pm
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