José Alfredo Jiménez Mausoleum

José Alfredo Jiménez, one of Mexico’s most famous vernacular musicians, was born in Dolores Hidalgo on January 19, 1926. He wrote songs such as “Caminos de Guanajuato,” “El Jinete,” “Ella,” “El Rey,” “No volveré,” and “Si nos dejan,” which became widely known among the Mexican public. As a child he moved to Mexico City, where he worked in occupations ranging from carpenter to soccer player. In the late 1940s Andrés Huesca discovered him and enabled him to record his first songs, leading to appearances on XEW and XEX radio stations and the beginning of his fame and fortune. His compositions were later sung by performers including Lola Beltrán, Pedro Infante, Jorge Negrete, Plácido Domingo, Miguel Aceves Mejía, Luis Aguilar, Javier Solís, Vicente Fernández, Chavela Vargas, Joaquín Sabina, and Lucha Villa. He died on November 23, 1973, at age forty-seven. Twenty-five years later, residents of Dolores Hidalgo organized to create a monument in his memory, designed by architect Javier Senosiain, husband of Paloma Jiménez Gálvez, José Alfredo’s daughter. The mausoleum includes an enormous charro hat with a brazier bearing the phrase “La vida no vale nada,” immortalized in “Caminos de Guanajuato,” and a sarape of multicolored ceramic pieces that evoke the crafts of Dolores Hidalgo and frame the titles of his songs. The house where he was born was converted into a museum that, since 2008, has allowed visitors to learn intimate aspects of this famous musician from Guanajuato.

Guanajuato · Mexico