He was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco in 1781.
A prominent doctor and politician, he held his first public office, while still very young, at the service of the Spanish courts. He participated in the Constituent Congress (1824) and later became Secretary of Relations in Gómez Pedraza's cabinet. Appointed vice president in 1833, he assumed the presidential position on five occasions, until 1847, when Antonio López de Santa Anna was absent from his duties as first president. Together with José María Luis Mora, Gómez Farias proposes important changes such as equality among all Mexicans, freedom of expression, the suppression of the privileges of the Church and the army, the implementation of profound economic reforms through consolidation and amortization of public debt, social assistance to the indigenous and unprotected classes, the organization of the National Library, among others. For his merits in public performance, Gómez Farias is considered the true precursor of the Reformation. He died in Mexico City in 1858.
