Adolfo Ruiz Cortines was born on 30 December 1889, in the state of Veracruz. Posthumous son of Adolfo Ruiz Tejada (1859–1890), "regidor" of Veracruz during the Porfirio Díaz regime, and María Cortines de la Cotera (1859–1932). Ruiz's grandfather was José Ruiz y Gómez de la Parra, better known as "José Ruiz Parra", a member of the State of Veracruz's first Congress in 1824, who co-wrote the state's constitution. José Ruiz Parra was president of the junta that ruled over the Port of Alvarado during the American Invasion of Veracruz, having to personally sign the surrender of the port in 1847. He was also reputed for organizing fundraisers in favor of the Mexican Army during the Second French Invasion of Mexico, as well as for his deep involvement in the education of the local children. José Ruiz Parra was the maternal grandson of Isidro Gómez de la Parra, "subdelegado" of the Spanish Crown to the province of Tuxtlas (appointed by Bernaldo de Gálvez, viceroy of the New Spain), and of his wife Dominga Casado de Toro y Tamariz, herself a descendant of the Luna y Arellano family, holders of the hereditary title of "Mariscal de Castilla".