Cosío Villegas was born in
Mexico City. After studying one year in engineering and two years of philosophy, he received a B.A. in law from the
National University and took several courses in economics at
Harvard,
Wisconsin and
Cornell. Later, he received master's degrees from the
London School of Economics and the
École libre de sciences politiques of
Paris. After working briefly for
Excélsior he joined
José Vasconcelos in the production of
La Antorcha magazine. In 1929, he served as secretary general of the National University, counselor to the
Bank of Mexico, director of the
School of Economics of the
National University (1933–1934), director of
El Trimestre Económico and founded the
Fondo de Cultura Económica, one of the most renowned publishing companies in
Latin America. On May 7, 1951, he was admitted to
El Colegio Nacional and from 1959 until 1963 he chaired
El Colegio de México, whose library now bears his name. and in 1976 he published
Memorias ('Memoirs'). Several weeks after publishing his memoirs, he died from health compilations, at 77, in Mexico City. He was buried at Panteón Jardín. ==Selected works==