Lizardi, as he is generally known, was born in Mexico City when it was still the capital of the colonial Spanish viceroyalty of New Spain.
His father, Manuel Fernández Lizalde, practiced as a physician in and around Mexico City, and who for a time supplemented the family income by writing.
Likewise, his mother, Bárbara Gutiérrez, came from a family of modest but "decent" means; her own father had been a bookseller in the nearby city of Puebla.

The death of Lizardi's father after a short illness in 1798 forced him to leave his studies in the Colegio de San Ildefonso and enter the civil service as a minor magistrate in the Taxco-Acapulco region.
He married María Dolores Orendain in Taxco in 1805.

The necessity of providing for a growing family led Lizardi to supplement his meager income as his father had; by writing.
He began his literary career in 1809 by publishing a poem in honor of Ferdinand VII of Spain.
Though Ferdinand VII later became a target of nationalist rage among pro-independence Mexicans because of his tendency toward despotism, Lizardi's politics were still unknown in 1808, the year of the Napoleonic invasion of Spain.
With Napoleon’s brother-in-law usurping the Spanish throne and the legitimate king in exile, raising a public voice in his favor was a patriotic stance for a Mexican intellectual, and in line with Lizardi’s later proto-nationalist views.

At the beginning of the Mexican War of Independence in November 1810, Morelos’ insurgent forces fought their way into Taxco where Lizardi, serving as Teniente de Justica, headed the local government as acting Subdelegado (the highest provincial government position in the colonial system).
After an initial insurgent victory, Lizardi tried to play both sides: he turned over the city’s armory to the insurgents, but he also informed the vice-royalty, Francisco Javier Venegas on November 11 of rebel movements.
Judged in the context of his later writings, these actions do not appear hypocritical.
Lizardi was always supportive of the intellectual aims and reformist politics of the insurgents, but was equally opposed to war and bloodshed.
By peacefully capitulating Taxco to the insurgents, he aimed to avoid loss of life in the city under his leadership.
Following the royalist recapture of Taxco in January 1811, Lizardi was taken prisoner as a rebel sympathizer and sent with the other prisoners of war to Mexico City.
There he appealed successfully to the viceroy, arguing that he had acted only to protect Taxco and its citizens from harm.

Lizardi, now free from prison and living in Mexico City, had lost his job and his possessions.
He turned to full-time writing and publishing to support his family, publishing more than twenty lightly satirical poems in broadsheets and pamphlets in the course of a year.
After limited freedom of the press was declared in Mexico on October 5, 1812 (see Spanish Constitution of 1812), Lizardi quickly organized one of the first non-governmental newspapers in the country.
The first issue of his El Pensador Mexicano ("The Mexican Thinker," a title he adopted as his own pseudonym) came out on October 9, just four days after press freedom was allowed.

In his journalism, Lizardi turned from the light social criticism of his earlier broadsheets to direct commentary on the political problems of the day, attacking the autocratic tendencies of the viceregal government and supporting the liberal aspirations represented by the democratic Cortes of Cádiz in Spain.
His articles show the influence of Enlightenment ideas derived from clandestine readings of forbidden books by Voltaire, Rousseau, and Diderot, a hazardous route to take in those hopeful but uncertain times.
In the ninth issue of El Pensador Mexicano (December 1812), Lizardi attacked viceroy Francisco Javier Venegas directly, resulting in his arrest.
He continued to issue the paper from his jail cell, but he dismayed pro-independence readers by suppressing his sympathies for the insurgents and muting critiques of the system that had imprisoned him.
When a new viceroy, Félix María Calleja, was
Lizardi, as he is generally known, was born in Mexico City when it was still the capital of the colonial Spanish viceroyalty of New Spain. His father, Manuel Fernández Lizalde, practiced as a physician in and around Mexico City, and who for a time supplemented the family income by writing. Likewise, his mother, Bárbara Gutiérrez, came from a family of modest but "decent" means; her own father had been a bookseller in the nearby city of Puebla.
The death of Lizardi's father after a short illness in 1798 forced him to leave his studies in the Colegio de San Ildefonso and enter the civil service as a minor magistrate in the Taxco-Acapulco region. He married María Dolores Orendain in Taxco in 1805.
The necessity of providing for a growing family led Lizardi to supplement his meager income as his father had; by writing. He began his literary career in 1809 by publishing a poem in honor of Ferdinand VII of Spain. Though Ferdinand VII later became a target of nationalist rage among pro-independence Mexicans because of his tendency toward despotism, Lizardi's politics were still unknown in 1808, the year of the Napoleonic invasion of Spain. With Napoleon’s brother-in-law usurping the Spanish throne and the legitimate king in exile, raising a public voice in his favor was a patriotic stance for a Mexican intellectual, and in line with Lizardi’s later proto-nationalist views.
At the beginning of the Mexican War of Independence in November 1810, Morelos’ insurgent forces fought their way into Taxco where Lizardi, serving as Teniente de Justica, headed the local government as acting Subdelegado (the highest provincial government position in the colonial system). After an initial insurgent victory, Lizardi tried to play both sides: he turned over the city’s armory to the insurgents, but he also informed the vice-royalty, Francisco Javier Venegas on November 11 of rebel movements. Judged in the context of his later writings, these actions do not appear hypocritical. Lizardi was always supportive of the intellectual aims and reformist politics of the insurgents, but was equally opposed to war and bloodshed. By peacefully capitulating Taxco to the insurgents, he aimed to avoid loss of life in the city under his leadership. Following the royalist recapture of Taxco in January 1811, Lizardi was taken prisoner as a rebel sympathizer and sent with the other prisoners of war to Mexico City. There he appealed successfully to the viceroy, arguing that he had acted only to protect Taxco and its citizens from harm.
Lizardi, now free from prison and living in Mexico City, had lost his job and his possessions. He turned to full-time writing and publishing to support his family, publishing more than twenty lightly satirical poems in broadsheets and pamphlets in the course of a year. After limited freedom of the press was declared in Mexico on October 5, 1812 (see Spanish Constitution of 1812), Lizardi quickly organized one of the first non-governmental newspapers in the country. The first issue of his El Pensador Mexicano ("The Mexican Thinker," a title he adopted as his own pseudonym) came out on October 9, just four days after press freedom was allowed.
In his journalism, Lizardi turned from the light social criticism of his earlier broadsheets to direct commentary on the political problems of the day, attacking the autocratic tendencies of the viceregal government and supporting the liberal aspirations represented by the democratic Cortes of Cádiz in Spain. His articles show the influence of Enlightenment ideas derived from clandestine readings of forbidden books by Voltaire, Rousseau, and Diderot, a hazardous route to take in those hopeful but uncertain times. In the ninth issue of El Pensador Mexicano (December 1812), Lizardi attacked viceroy Francisco Javier Venegas directly, resulting in his arrest. He continued to issue the paper from his jail cell, but he dismayed pro-independence readers by suppressing his sympathies for the insurgents and muting critiques of the system that had imprisoned him. When a new viceroy, Félix María Calleja, was
José Joaquín Fernández de Lizardi