Welcome back to our deep dive into Mexico City’s most influential cultural figures! In part one, we covered the entertainment legends and sports icons who shaped Mexican society — from Cantinflas creating his own verb to Hugo Sánchez’s “divorce of the decade.” Now, in part two, we’re diving into more artists, rebels, and boundary-breakers who challenged conventions and redefined what it meant to be Mexican. As a reminder, this list was compiled with the help of three born-and-raised capitalinos who helped me identify the cultural phenoms that every foreigner should know to truly understand Mexico. Ready for more chisme? Let’s continue with figures that are sure to come up at your next neighborhood get-together.
6. Eugenio Derbez (Comedian, Actor, & Producer, 1961–)
The controversial Eugenio Derbez achieved his fame through hit television comedies, subsequently breaking ground in Hollywood in the early 2010s. He wrote, directed and starred in the 2013 film “Instructions Not Included,” the highest-grossing Spanish-language film ever released in North America. Surprisingly, despite his showbiz heritage (he was the son of actress Silvia Derbez), Eugenio endured intense workplace bullying for years and was painfully shy before making it big. Known for his vibrant characters and advocacy for greater Latino representation in media, his personal life was equally screen-worthy. Derbez’s real-life “boda falsa” created a media circus and long-standing animosity with the public, fueling years of headlines and jabs. In 1992, Derbez and his pregnant girlfriend, actress Victoria Ruffo, staged a symbolic fake wedding to quiet the press.
However, the event wasn’t legally binding and later caused feelings of betrayal when it surfaced that Ruffo believed it was real. This misunderstanding sparked feuds, custody battles and family rifts. He was estranged from his son, José Eduardo, for years due to the breakup. The relationship thawed only recently, with the birth of his granddaughter. Some colleagues and fans see him as arrogant and “difficult.” Numerous public beefs were sparked by his sharp humor and pointed social media posts.
7. Miguel Covarrubias (Artist and Anthropologist, 1904–1957)
Known for his bold, colorful art that fused modern styles with Mexican indigenous themes, Covarrubias’ multifaceted career included illustration, cultural critique, and museum exhibitions. He lived a magnetic double life between Mexico and New York City. In the latter, for instance, he became a prodigy by his early 20s as a caricaturist for The New Yorker and Vanity Fair. Regardless of his success, Covarrubias was infamous for his chronic unreliability, which was so bad that he failed to respond to urgent work for the Rockefellers and Whitneys. First married to dancer and photographer Rosa Rolanda, their marriage became strained over his political activism with Diego Rivera and other leftists.
Those associations that would eventually bar him from re-entering the U.S. during the McCarthy era. With the end of his career in the U.S. came the end of his first marriage. He left Rosa in the early ’50s for a much younger student, Rocío Sagaón (with whom he had a 29-year age difference). Later, he married her to kick off his new chapter back in Mexico. The relationship ignited high emotion. Rosa Rolanda reportedly threatened Sagaón with a kitchen knife and then a pistol when the affair came to light, but was stopped by others before anything tragic happened. He died five years after marrying Sagaón, leaving behind a legacy of artistic brilliance shadowed by personal chaos.
8. Nahui Olín (Artist and Feminist Icon, 1893–1978)
Born in Mexico City’s Tacubaya neighborhood, Nahui Olín was a bold, scandalous force in Mexican art and culture. A painter, poet and muse, she defied the country’s conservative norms with her unapologetic sensuality. She did things that were otherwise unthinkable for a respectable woman at the time. Like posing nude for renowned artists and creating provocative self-portraits.
Her passionate, tumultuous relationships, notably with muralist Dr. Atl, were marked by outlandish public outbursts. Once, upon discovering two women in the home she shared with Atl, Olín flew into a fit of rage and tried to push both women off the balcony. On another occasion, Atl woke up to find his lover, naked and furious, pointing a revolver directly at his chest. After a struggle, she fired five rounds into the floor, sparing him his life. Not one to endure such experiences in silence, Olín let the world know about her anger. She once hung a handwritten note on Atl’s front door, denouncing his affairs for the entire neighborhood to see.
In her younger years, she was a celebrated figure in Mexico City’s elite circles. But Olín’s later years were marked by tragedy. Eventually, she was ostracized, impoverished and forced to sell nude photos to survive. Despite dying in relative obscurity, she has since been rediscovered as a pioneering feminist icon and fearless artist who blazed a path for feminist expression in Mexican art and society.
9. Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (Intellectual, Poet and Feminist, 1648 or 1651–1695)
Born illegitimate but precocious, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz stunned colonial society with her genius. As a teenager, she proved her intellect in a public debate at the viceroy’s court. She famously rejected marriage and its subsequent loss of independence. Instead, she joined a convent where her cell became a literary salon for the colony’s elite. Known for razor-sharp wit, Sor Juana challenged church misogyny and male hypocrisy through her writing. Her secret critique, “Carta Atenagórica,” triggered backlash from religious authorities. Thanks to the Bishop of Puebla, who published her private letter without her consent, Sor Juana was pressured to renounce her studies.
She sold her beloved library and, as legend has it, signed her final convent pledge in her own blood. Rumors swirled about the true nature of her close friendships with female patrons and nuns, fueling speculation that her affections crossed boundaries between spiritual and romantic. At the end of her life, Sor Juana devoted herself to charity, taking on the role of nurse during a plague outbreak. Her defiance and intellect endure as powerful symbols of female rebellion and brilliance in Mexican history.
10. El Santo (Lucha Libre Legend, 1917–1984)
Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta was Mexico’s first legendary masked wrestler. He starred in numerous popular films that mythologized his persona. But he maintained his masked identity at all times, building an enduring mystique and cultural symbol that represents Mexican folklore, justice and the spectacle of lucha libre wrestling. He maintained his mask in public even after death, and only twice in his life did he reveal his face. The first was in a film with a body double. His second reveal was on television, just weeks before he died. It was as if he were giving a final curtain call to the nation.
El Santo’s funeral was unprecedented, with 10,000 mourners and traffic in Mexico City grinding to a halt as his masked body was interred. He was buried wearing his iconic silver mask, so that even in death, he remained the character that had captivated millions. His son, El Hijo del Santo (Jorge Ernesto Guzmán Rodríguez), also became a lucha legend. However, he faced his own scandals and threats to sue over photos of his father, proving that even legendary legacies come with family drama.
Bethany Platanella is a travel planner and lifestyle writer based in Mexico City. She lives for the dopamine hit that comes directly after booking a plane ticket, exploring local markets, practicing yoga and munching on fresh tortillas. Sign up to receive her Sunday Love Letters to your inbox, peruse her blog or follow her on Instagram.
