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Alfonso Reyes
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Alfonso Reyes, nicknamed "El regiomontano universal", (1889 – 1959) was a philosopher and Mexican diplomat. He was born in Monterrey, Mexico, in 1889, and was the offspring of General Bernardo Reyes.

He published his first book, Cuestiones estéticas at the age of 21 and founded the Ateneo de la Juventud in 1910.

He lived in Madrid between 1914 and 1924, where he excelled as a literary journalist, investigator, translator, critic, and writer.

He was a member of the Mexican diplomatic corps, serving in France, Argentina and Brazil before returning to his country in 1939 to organize what is today El Colegio de México.

It is not so well known that the great Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges considered Alfonso Reyes "the best prose-writer in the Spanish language of any time". In the autobiographical essay "La Ceguera" (Blindness), Borges declares: "Alfonso Reyes, the greatest prose writer in the Spanish language of any age, said to me: Groussac taught me how to write in Spanish". (In: Siete Noches. Fondo de Cultura Economica, Mexico, 1980, p. 156).

His short story "La Cena" (1912) is considered a forerunner of surrealism.

The editorial house "Fondo de Cultura Económica" of Mexico has published the Complete Works (Obras Completas) of Alfonso Reyes in 27 volumes.

Alfonso Reyes died in Mexico City in 1959. At least five avenues in Monterrey's metropolitan area, and 3 in the municipality, are named after him.