The remains of Jalisco’s most eminent civil engineer of the 20th century, Jorge Matute Remus, now lie in the Rotunda of Illustrious Citizens – an apt final resting place considering he helped construct the landmark downtown Guadalajara monument.
Dignitaries from all walks of local life turned out for Monday’s ceremony, which began when an antique car solemnly took Matute Remus’ remains from the Universidad de Guadalajara rectory through the streets of the city center to the Rotunda next to the Metropolitan Cathedral.
In a significant moment, the procession paused for a moment on Avenida Juarez beside a building that was once home to Telefónica Mexicana (the forerunner to Telmex). Erected on the sidewalk outside this building is a rather unconventional statue of Matute Remus appearing to push the edifice. It’s a slightly bizarre public monument that perplexes visitors to Guadalajara who are unable to understand the Spanish explanation plaque beside the statue.
As long as this building stands, it will forever be associated with Matute Remus. In 1950 he orchestrated the astounding (at the time) feat of maneuvering the 1,700-ton building onto rails and moving it back 12 meters while telecommunications staff continued their labors inside. This was the final part of his major urbanization project to widen Juarez and transform it into the city’s most important and celebrated avenue. His achievement not only saved the edifice from destruction but allowed Guadalajara’s telephone system to remain operational throughout the entire week-long moving process.
Born in 1912, Matute Remus studied engineering at the UdG, and gained a reputation at a young age when he built a bridge over the Rio Coy in San Luis Potosi, a project that he used as the subject for his doctoral thesis. He then went to work for a private oil company but decided not to relocate to a new post in South America when the Mexican government nationalized the sector in 1936. Instead, he joined the faculty of his alma mater, the UdG, and began a career dedicated to the pursuit of improved urban planning and education.
Credited for setting up the city’s potable water distribution network, a task for which he was honored by the American Water Works Association, Matute Remus went on to serve as UdG rector from 1949 to 1953 and mayor (presidente municipal) of Guadalajara from 1953 to 1955.
He was also instrumental in the construction of the garden and plaza in front of the Templo Expiatorio, as well as other city landmarks, and the malecon in Chapala. He founded and built Guadalajara’s Technological Institute and the Center for Technical and Industrial Education (CETI).
Matute Remus was honored on many occasions by the UdG, as well as by Mexico’s federal government and UNESCO. In addition to winning the National Prize for Engineering, the French government conferred on him the Ordre des Palmes académiques (Order of Academic Palms), an order of chivalry for academics and cultural and educational figures.
Matute Remus died in 2002 at the age of 89. The suspension bridge at Lopez Mateos and Lazaro Cardenas built in 2011 bears his name.
Addressing Monday’s ceremony, Jalisco Governor Aristoteles Sandoval called Matute Remus a “visionary urbanist who helped transform Guadalajara into a metropolis.”