Jaime Mario Torres Bodet (17 April 1902 – 13 May 1974)[1] was a prominent Mexican politician and writer who served in the executive cabinet of three Presidents of Mexico.

He was the second Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), serving from 1948 until his resignation in 1952.

His mother was Emilia Bodet Levallois, a Peruvian of French heritage, and his father was Alejandro Torres Girbent from Barcelona.

In 1912, he graduated the sixth grade, he received as a gift the collection of "The Natural Episodes" by Benito Pérez Galdós, along with many other books.

His decision to commit suicide was also influenced by a 1956 book called The Temple of the Golden Pavilion by Yukio Mishima.

He then was appointed to the rectory of the National University (today UNAM), tasked with formulating the legal basis of the new educational system.

The purpose of Contemporáneos was to promote an expressive and poetic movement called Nuevo Ateneo, which had begun in 1924.

In fact, it was apolitical, itself becoming a political statement[7] From 1938 to 1941 he worked with a younger generation of writers such as Rafael Solana, Octavio Paz, Efraín Huerta and Alberto Quintero on a project and publication called Taller Poético (Poetic Workshop).

Later, in 1958–64, he was again appointed to serve as Secretary of Public Education, this time under President Adolfo López Mateos.

He believed that the answer to Mexico's problem lie with education, that it could diminish crime, corruption, lack of employment, etc.

[3] Between 1929 and the outbreak of the Second World War, Torres Bodet held diplomatic positions in Madrid, The Hague, Paris, Buenos Aires and Brussels.