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Ernesto de la Peña Library

The Ernesto de la Peña Library was created in 1997 to provide comprehensive training to scholarship recipients from the Telmex Foundation. It’s one of the coolest collections and it’s open to researchers and the general public. The collection came about with the family library of Don Ernesto de la Peña.

The collection of the Ernesto de la Peña Library includes more than 30,000 volumes in languages such as Latin, Greek, Aramaic, Chinese, Arabic, French, Portuguese, English, among others. Don Ernesto could read in more than thirty languages and it’s reflected in his personal library. But the general public especially comes for the collection in subject like the Tarot, and occult sciences. There are also numerous works in cooking and music, especially opera.

The library is maintained by the Centro de Estudios de Historia de México Carso Carlos Slim Foundation. The foundation was created in 1965 to recover and preserve printed and documentary works on the history of Mexico from the colonial period to the present day. The foundation maintains more than 800,000 books and manuscripts. They also publish library and archival catalogs.

Hours: Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Ernesto de la Peña Muñoz

Ernesto de la Peña Muñoz (1927-2012) was a writer, humanist, linguist, polyglot, academic, and scholar. A professor of cultural history in numerous private institutions, he was also professor of eastern religions, Greek literature, and translation technique and German language at the Institute of Interpreters and Translators. He was an official translator for the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit. As such, he also collaborated on translations for the Superior Court of Justice of the Federal District. He received the the Xavier Villaurutia Prize for a collection of short stories: Las estratagemas de Dios (1988). His knowledge of 33 languages and cultures is reflected across the body of his literary output. His most famous works include The Stratagems of God, published in 1988; The Indelible Borrelli Case in 1992; Mineralogy For Intruders in 1999; and The Transfigured Rose, also in 1999.