Ángel Valbuena Prat (16 May 1900 – 2 January 1977) was a Spanish

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

and

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

Biography

Born in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, he studied at the

University of Barcelona The University of Barcelona ( ca, Universitat de Barcelona, UB; ; es, link=no, Universidad de Barcelona) is a public university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, in Spain. With 63,000 students, it is one of the biggest universities i ...

, and later became an assistant professor at the

Central University of Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid ( es, Universidad Complutense de Madrid; UCM, links=no, ''Universidad de Madrid'', ''Universidad Central de Madrid''; la, Universitas Complutensis Matritensis, links=no) is a public research university loca ...

. His doctoral thesis, ''Los Autos Sacramentales de Calderón'', earned him various awards. After a tour of various university centers (

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), finally, perhaps as a punishment for his political attitudes of Catalan regionalist nature, he was transferred to the

University of Murcia The University of Murcia ( es, Universidad de Murcia) is the main university in Murcia, Spain. With 38,000 students, it is the largest university in the Región de Murcia. The University of Murcia is the third oldest university in Spain, after t ...

, where he remained for more than twenty five years. His fundamental work is his ''History of

Spanish Literature Spanish literature generally refers to literature ( Spanish poetry, prose, and drama) written in the Spanish language within the territory that presently constitutes the Kingdom of Spain. Its development coincides and frequently intersects wi ...

'' (''Historia de la literatura española''), published for the first time in 1937. Many critics pointed out the work's novelty,Pozuelo Yvancos, José María (coord.) (2000): ''Ángel Valbuena Prat y la historiografía literaria española'', monográfico de la revista ''Monteagudo'', Universidad de Murcia, 3.ª época, n.º 5 and the work was reissued up to eight times, the last one of which in 1968, with each edition being re-edited. Thus, this work made Valbuena Prat one of the most prestigious literary historians of the postwar period. Valbuena Prat went one to become one of the greatest Spanish historians of theater. In addition to this work, Valbuena Prat published numerous studies on Spanish literature throughout his career, among which ''Algunos aspectos de la moderna poesía canaria'' (1926), ''Calderón: su personalidad, su arte dramático, su estilo y sus obras'' (1941), ''Historia del teatro español'' (1956) and ''Estudios de literatura religiosa española: época medieval y edad de oro'' (1963), as well as multiple editions of '' autos sacramentales'' and

comedies Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term origin ...

Pedro Calderón de la Barca Pedro Calderón de la Barca y Barreda González de Henao Ruiz de Blasco y Riaño (, ; ; 17 January 160025 May 1681) was a Spanish dramatist, poet, writer and knight of the Order of Santiago. He is known as one of the most distinguished Baroque ...

, who had been the subject of his doctoral thesis. He also wrote novels, ''Teófilo'' (1926) and ''2+4'' (1927), and poetry books such as ''Dios sobre la muerte'' (1939).

Major works

Literary Studies

*"The

Mystery Play Mystery plays and miracle plays (they are distinguished as two different forms although the terms are often used interchangeably) are among the earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe. Medieval mystery plays focused on the represe ...

s of Calderón", PhD *"History of

", 1937-1968 *"Some Aspects of Modern Canary Poetry", 1926 *" Calderon: His Personality, His

Drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

, His Style and His Works", 1941 *"History of Spanish

Theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

", 1956 *"Studies of Spanish Religious Literature: Medieval and Golden Age", 1963

Novels

*''Teófilo'', 1926 *''2+4'', 1927

Poetry

*''Dios sobre la muerte'', 1939

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valbuena Prat Writers from Catalonia 1900 births 1977 deaths Academic staff of the University of Barcelona 20th-century Spanish historians