Juan Francisco Masdeu (4 October 1744 – 1817), Spanish historian, was born at

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

. He joined the Company of Jesus on 19 December 1759 and became professor in the

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

seminaries at

Ferrara Ferrara (, ; egl, Fràra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream ...

and

Ascoli Ascoli may refer to: Places in Italy *Ascoli Satriano, a town and ''comune'' in the province of Foggia in the Apulia region *Province of Ascoli Piceno, a province of the Marche region **Ascoli Piceno, a city which is the seat of the province above ...

. He visited Spain in 1799, was exiled, and returned in 1815, dying at Valencia on 11 April 1817. His ''Storia critica di Spagne e della cultura spagnuola in ogni genere'' (2 vols., 1781–1784) was finally expanded into the ''Historia crítica de España y de la cultura española'' (1783–1805), which, though it consists of twenty volumes, was left

unfinished Unfinished may refer to: *Unfinished creative work, a work which a creator either chose not to finish or was prevented from finishing. Music * Symphony No. 8 (Schubert) "Unfinished" * ''Unfinished'' (album), 2011 album by American singer Jor ...

; had it been continued on the same scale, the work would have consisted of fifty volumes. Masdeu wrote in a critical spirit and with a regard for accuracy rare in his time; but he is more concerned with small details than with the philosophy of history. Still, his narrative is lucid, and later researches have not yet rendered his work obsolete.

References

External links

* ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** {{DEFAULTSORT:Masdeu, Juan Francisco 18th-century Spanish historians 1744 births 1817 deaths 18th-century Spanish Jesuits 19th-century Spanish historians