Roberto de la Madrid
Governor of Baja California
Roberto de la Madrid Romandia (February 3, 1922 – March 19, 2010) was a Mexican elected official who served as governor of Baja California from 1977 to 1983. He was the first American-born governor of a Mexican state. He was a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).
Early life and education
De la Madrid was born February 3, 1922, in Calexico, California, to Mexican parents. He grew up on both sides of the border, attending schools in Tijuana and San Diego, including Sweetwater High School in National City. His American birth made him an American citizen, but he later became certified as a Mexican citizen. He was bilingual and bicultural, and maintained friendships and business activities on both sides of the border.
Non-political career
He was a distributor for Richfield and Pemex and was active in Mexican political campaigns. He also appeared in the 1959 Dennis Hopper film The Young Land and was listed fifth in the credits; the name of his character was Don Roberto de la Madrid.
Political career
In 1973, he was appointed tourism director for the state of Baja California.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6110069. VIAF identifies the subject as 11167056. The Library of Congress control number is n81060530. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1922, 2010, 1977 and 1983.
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This entry incorporates text from “Roberto de la Madrid” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.