Fernando Serrano Migallón, the Mexican jurist and historian who led the Faculty of Law at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and helped write the country’s copyright law, died on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, at the age of 81. His death was confirmed by the Mexican Academy of Language, where he held seat IX. The cause of death was not made public.
A son of the Spanish exile
Serrano Migallón was born in Mexico City on June 26, 1945, into a family of Spanish Republican exiles. He studied law and economics at UNAM and earned a doctorate in history from its Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, with further studies at the International Institute of Public Administration in Paris and the Hague Academy of International Law.
His family’s story shaped one of his main fields of research. In La inteligencia peregrina he studied the contribution of Republican intellectuals who settled in Mexico, and in Hurgar en el corazón he wrote about his parents’ arrival in the country.
UNAM and public service
He taught at UNAM for more than four decades, served twice as the university’s general counsel, and was director of the Faculty of Law from 2000 to 2008, where he reformed the curriculum and brought art into the faculty’s spaces. In February 2026 the University Council named him professor emeritus.
A specialist in intellectual property, he took part in drafting the Federal Copyright Law and in the reorganisation that created the National Copyright Institute (INDAUTOR), which he later directed. He was cultural and artistic secretary of the National Council for Culture and the Arts from 2009 to 2011 and undersecretary of higher education from 2012 to 2014.
Historian of the constitution
He wrote more than 50 books, including the ten-volume La vida constitucional de México, Historia mínima de las constituciones en México and Toma de posesión: el rito del poder. He was a member of the Mexican academies of history and of jurisprudence and legislation, and received the National Prize for Arts and Literature in 2021. France awarded him its National Order of Merit, and Spain the Order of Isabella the Catholic.