This illustrious personage was born the 26 of January of 1848 in the state of Campeche . He was son of Justo Sierra O'Reilly (1814-1861), who was a brilliant novelist, historian and writer.

Justo Sierra carried out his studies in the city of Mérida, in the state of Yucatán, and finally he is transferred to the City of Mexico, when his father dead. He studied in the in the franc-Mexican grammar school and then in the San Ildefonso College, where he wrote his first literary essays.

He got to be several times delegated of the Congress of the Union and magistrate of the Supreme Court of Justice. Also he got to be masterful from the Preparatory National School and he was one of the directors of the National Magazine of Letters and Sciences.

He was minister of Public Instruction during the regime of Porfirio Diaz and impeller of the positivist educative project and established the first system of public education in our country. In 1910 he founded the Independent National University of Mexico .

He got to be diplomatic in Spain in the year of 1912, where he died in the city of Madrid. His body was brought to our country with great honors, he was declared "Teacher of America" and he was buried in the roundhouse of the illustrious men.

Some of their works are: "Evolución Política del Pueblo Mexicano " (Political Evolution of the Mexican town) (1900-1902) " Juárez, su obra y su tiempo " (Juárez, his work and his time) (1906), also got to write poetry from 1868, theater, narrative prose.

In our days exists a medal to the university merit " Justo Sierra " which is granted in recognition to the academic work and of investigation.