Dr. Atl

Gerardo Murillo Cornadó, known artistically by the pseudonym Dr. Atl, was a Mexican painter and writer. Other disciplines he practiced were: exploration, geology, philosophy, history, art criticism, politics; He was passionate about volcanology; stylist, doctor, teacher; He practiced caricature, essays and journalism. He decided to give himself the pseudonym Atl, which means water in Nahuatl and preceded it with the title of Doctor of Philosophy, at the suggestion of the poet Leopoldo Lugones. In a letter addressed to the members of the National College in 1951, he explained that the name change was due to his interest in having a way of referring to him in accordance with his independent personality. This arose from circumstances and not from the imposition of his parents, so he baptized himself with "the wonderful water of his joy of living."