Celebrating Latinos from Los Angeles

The LA Latino International Film Festival started on Sunday, so today we’re happy to celebrate a few well known Latinos from Los Angeles.

Antonio Villaraigosa, 41st Mayor of Los Angeles, is an LA native. Born to a father from Mexico and a mother of Mexican descent, Villaraigosa has strongly supported the latino community. Interestingly, his maternal grandparents both came over from Mexico in the early 1900s. Villaraigosa’s grandfather worked as a merchant in the LA area circa 1930.

Edward James Olmos was born in LA to a father from Mexico and a natural born mother of Mexican descent. Known as a respected actor in movies and television, Olmos is outspoken on many latino-related issues.

Also of interest, Cristóbal Aguilar was born in LA in 1815 when it was under Spanish rule. His father was given a rather large land grant which put the Aguilar family in the center of all of the political changes happening at the time. Until Mr. Villaraigosa took office, Aguilar was the last latino person to serve as Mayor of Los Angeles. There were roughly 133 years in between.

If you are interested in the genealogy of latinos, we suggest you check out a few projects on Geni: Latino American Entertainers, Hispanic Medal of Honor recipients, and Notable Latinas of the Americas. If you have any information you’d like to share with us about latino genealogy, please hit us up on Twitter.