Manuel María Ponce (1882 - 1948)

Born 8 Dec 1882 in Fresnillo, Fresnillo, Zacatecas, Mexico

Ancestors

Husband of Clementina Maurel (Tirieque) Ponce — married 3 Sep 1917 in Nuestra Señora de Lourdes, Miguel Hidalgo, Ciudad de México, México

Died 24 Apr 1948 at age 65 in Mexico City, Cuauhtémoc Borough, Distrito Federal, Mexico

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Biography

Manuel Ponce is Notable.

Manuel Ponce was born in Mexico.

He was the twelfth child of his parents, Felipe de Jesus Ponce Leon and María de Jesus Cuellar. Ponce's father had participated in the 1867 revolution that restored Mexico's independence, and when Manuel was born, the family was hiding out in Fresnillo to escape lingering political fallout from that event.

The family shortly moved to Aguascalientes, a larger city, where he grew up and began his studies on the piano. He eventually studied in Germany and Italy, becoming a known composer of Mexican popular music.

After his years abroad, Ponce returned to Mexico to teach piano and music history at the National Conservatory of Music from 1909 to 1915 and from 1917 to 1922. He spent the intervening years of 1915 to 1917 in Havana, Cuba.

He made an enormous contribution to the development of the classical guitar and its acceptance as an instrument on a par with other concert instruments, particularly through his association with Andrés Segovia. During the eight years Ponce lived in Paris, he rekindled his friendship with Segovia who also resided in that city. The two collaborated closely, and it was in this period that the majority of Ponce's guitar compositions were created.

In 1947 he received the National Science and Arts Prize awarded annually by the Government of Mexico.

Among his works, the songs "Estrellita," "Estampas Nocturnas," and "Folias de España" are some of the most well known.

Sources

• "México bautismos, 1560-1950", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N58W-2XS : 10 April 2020), Manuel M'a Ponce, 1882.

• "México, Distrito Federal, registros parroquiales y diocesanos, 1514-1970", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F32Y-CDZ : 23 February 2021), Manuel M Ponce and Clementina Maurel, 1917.

• Find a Grave, database and images (www.findagrave.com/memorial/14602261/manuel-m.-ponce : accessed 10 June 2021), memorial page for Manuel M. Ponce (8 Dec 1882–24 Apr 1948), Find A Grave: Memorial #14602261, citing Panteón Civil de Dolores, Miguel Hidalgo, Miguel Hidalgo Borough, Distrito Federal, Mexico.

See also:

• Wikipedia: Manuel Ponce

• Wikidata: Item Q360206, en:Wikipedia

• Encyclopedia.com [1]

• Manuel Ponce Cuéllar's 139th Birthday, Google Doodle for December 8, 2022.