Manuel Antonio Mercado

Manuel Antonio Mercado y de la Paz(28 January 1838, Piedad de Cabadas, Michoacán, México – 9 June 1909, México City ), also known as Manuel Mercadowas a Mexican politician and lawyer, and served as Secretary of State for the Federal District (Distrito Federal) of Mexico (Mexico City), administration of Lerdo de Tejada.
Lawyer; bar of México 1861

Discurso inaugural pronunciado en la Academia de Jurisprudencia Teórico-Práctica el día 19 de enero de 1860

In January 19, 1860, Manuel Antonio Mercado, a law student, delivered a commencement inaugural address at the School of Jurisprudence. The speech was later published.

Manuel Antonio Mercado was a dear friend of José Martí since 1875, year when Martí, who along with his parents, had moved to Mexico from Cuba. Almost two decades later, on May 18, 1895, just hours before José Martí was gunned down by Spaniard troops while fighting for the Independence of Cuba during the Battle of Dos Ríos, he wrote a letter to Mercado, wherein he expressed, his final thoughts to gain the Independence of Cuba. Martí's letter, albeit unfinished, was published posthumously.