The first certain publication year of La Calavera Catrina is 1913.
The image was created by Mexican printmaker José Guadalupe Posada and circulated through broadsides—large, inexpensive printed sheets sold to the public. Although the design is often dated broadly to 1910–1913, the earliest publication date that can be established with certainty is 1913.
That first certain appearance was in a satirical broadside published for Día de Muertos by the Vanegas Arroyo publishing family. The sheet included a skull-headed woman associated with the phrase “La Calavera Catrina.” Posada died in January 1913, so the publication is commonly described as posthumous.
Later dates can cause confusion because the image was rediscovered and popularized decades afterward. It appeared in a book in 1930, and Diego Rivera’s mural adaptation from 1946–47 greatly increased its fame. Those later milestones are important to Catrina’s cultural history, but they are not the first certain publication year.