Ignacio López de Ayala (18 October 1739 Grazalema, Cádiz – 24 April 1789 in

Tarifa Tarifa (, Arabic: طريفة) is a Spanish municipality in the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. Located at the southernmost end of the Iberian Peninsula, it is primarily known as one of the world's most popular destinations for windsports. Tarifa ...

) was a Spanish writer, astronomer and historian.

Life

He was a professor of poetry at the Reales Estudios de San Isidro in

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 ...

. He authored a neoclassical tragedy, ''Numancia destruida'' (1775). His works were mainly heroic romances. He was also a respected historian, authoring history books on

Frederick the Great Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the Sil ...

(''Historia de Federico el Grande, rey de Prusia'') (1782), the History of

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

(''Historia de Gibraltar'') (1782) and the

Council of Trent The Council of Trent ( la, Concilium Tridentinum), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trento, Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italian Peninsula, Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation ...

(''El sacrosanto y ecuménico concilio de Trento'') (1787). These works gained him membership of the

Real Academia de la Historia The Real Academia de la Historia (RAH, 'Royal Academy of History') is a Spanish institution in Madrid that studies history "ancient and modern, political, civil, ecclesiastical, military, scientific, of letters and arts, that is to say, the diff ...

. In his later years he also wrote on astronomy, ''Disertaciones astronómicas'' and ''Filosofía moral de Aristóteles'', astronomical dissertations and the moral philosophy of

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...

. He was a member of the

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (RABASF; ), located on the Calle de Alcalá in the heart of Madrid, currently functions as a museum and gallery. A public law corporation, it is integrated together with other Spanish royal acad ...

. He died on 24 April 1789 in

References

1789 deaths 18th-century Spanish poets 18th-century Spanish historians 18th-century Spanish astronomers People from Cádiz 18th-century Spanish philosophers Commentators on Aristotle Spanish male poets 1739 births {{Spain-writer-stub