Agustín Moreto y Cavana (April, 1618, Madrid28 October 1669), was a Spanish Catholic priest,

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

and playwright.

Biography

Of Italian descent, his exact date of birth is unknown, but he was baptized at

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

on 9 April 1618. He attended the

University of Alcalá The University of Alcalá ( es, Universidad de Alcalá) is a public university located in Alcalá de Henares, a city 35 km (22 miles) northeast of Madrid in Spain and also the third-largest city of the region. It was founded in 1293 as a ...

de Henares between 1634 and 1637, studying logic and physics and receiving his Licentiate in December 1639. By 1643, he had been ordained a cleric in minor orders, with a benefice, and had also, in all probability, begun his dramatic writing. By the middle of the century he was already a recognized literary figure and a member of the Academia Castellana. He published the first volume of his comedies (called the ''Primera Parte'') in 1654; ''El desdén, con el desdén'' (literally "Disdain with Disdain"), one of his most popular and famous comedies, first appeared in print in this edition. He lived in Madrid till 1654, when he moved to Toledo, and became chaplain to the primate Baltasar de Moscoso y Sandoval. Sometime after 1657, Agustín was ordained a priest, at which time he seems to have cut back on his dramatic activity. At the Archbishop's request, he entered the Brotherhood of San Pedro in 1659 in order to help administer the Hospital of San Nicolás. He lived in the hospital grounds until his death ten years later, leaving unfinished his final work, a play about St. Rose of Lima. He was buried in the Church of St. John the Baptist in Toledo. His play, ''Santa Rosa'', was completed by Pedro Francisco de Lanini. The second and third volumes of his collected works appeared in 1676. The most celebrated of his pieces is ''El Desdén con el Desdén'', imitated by

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world ...

in ''La Princesse d'Elide'', by Carlo Gozzi in ''La principessa filosofa'', and by Schreyvogel in ''Donna Diana''. It is characteristic that four episodes in ''El Desdén con el Desdén'' are taken from four separate plays of

Lope de Vega Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio ( , ; 25 November 156227 August 1635) was a Spanish playwright, poet, and novelist. He was one of the key figures in the Spanish Golden Age of Baroque literature. His reputation in the world of Spanish literature ...

's (''La vengadora de las mujeres'', ''Los milagros del desprecio'', ''De corsario a corsario'', and ''La Hermosa fea''). Moreto borrowed from

Castro Castro is a Romance language word that originally derived from Latin ''castrum'', a pre-Roman military camp or fortification (cf: Greek: ''kastron''; Proto-Celtic:''*Kassrik;'' br, kaer, *kastro). The English-language equivalent is '' chester''. ...

Tirso de Molina Gabriel Téllez ( 24 March 1583 20 February 1648), better known as Tirso de Molina, was a Spanish Baroque dramatist, poet and Roman Catholic monk. He is primarily known for writing '' The Trickster of Seville and the Stone Guest'', the play from ...

and others to a considerable extent, but his adaptation shows great dexterity and charm.

Musical adaptations

Emil von Reznicek Emil Nikolaus Joseph, Freiherr von Reznicek (4 May 1860, in Vienna – 2 August 1945, in Berlin) was an Austrian composer of Romanian-Czech ancestry. Life Reznicek's grandfather, Josef Resnitschek (1787–1848), was a trumpet virtuoso and b ...

wrote an opera ''Donna Diana'' in 1894, based on ''El Desdén con el Desdén''. Its overture remains a popular concert piece.

Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (18 or 19 November 17865 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and critic who was one of the first significant composers of the Romantic era. Best known for his opera ...

also wrote incidental music to the play in 1817.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moreto Y Cavana, Agustin 1618 births 1669 deaths Writers from Madrid 17th-century Spanish dramatists and playwrights Spanish male dramatists and playwrights Spanish people of Italian descent University of Alcalá alumni 17th-century male writers