ROMERO, JOS RUBN

born Sept. 25, 1890, Cotija de la Paz, Mex. died July 4, 1952, Mexico City Mexican novelist and short-story writer whose vivid depiction of the people and customs of his native state of Michoacn brought him critical acclaim as an outstanding modern costumbrista, or novelist of manners. His character Pito Prez, a lovable rascal, won the hearts of a wide audience. In his youth Romero participated in the rebellion (191011) led by Francisco Madero, and his later diplomatic career included service as ambassador to Brazil (1937) and to Cuba (1939). Romero began his literary career as a poet with Fantasas (1908; Fantasies) and La musa heroica (1912; The Heroic Muse). Soon, however, he turned almost exclusively to prose. With broad humour that often masked an underlying bitterness, Romero depicted the post-revolutionary milieu in such novels as Desbandada (1934; Disbandment) and Anticipacin a la muerte (1939; Anticipation of Death). He achieved his greatest popularity, however, with La vida intil de Pito Prez (1938; The Useless Life of Pito Prez), a picaresque novel chronicling the comic adventures of Pito Prez, who reappeared in Algunas cosillas de Pito Prez (1945; Some Little Things About Pito Prez).