Juan Latino (born Juan de Sessa;

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

c. 1518 –

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

, c. 1594/1597) was a Spanish professor of Ethiopian descent at the

University of Granada The University of Granada ( es, Universidad de Granada, UGR) is a public university located in the city of Granada, Spain, and founded in 1531 by Emperor Charles V. With more than 60,000 students, it is the fourth largest university in Spain. Apar ...

during the sixteenth century. He could be considered the first African who studied at a European university and who reached a professorship on Grammar and Latin Language at the University of Granada.

Life

Juan Latino was born in 1518 as Juan de Sessa to a black slave from

, since 1520 slave of

Luis Fernández de Córdoba Luis Fernández de Córdoba (February 1555 – 26 June 1625) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Seville (1624–1625), Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela (1622–1624), Bishop of Málaga (1615–1622), and Bishop of Sala ...

(c. 1480–1526), the second Duke consort of Sessa. He went to

where he was educated together with his owner's son

Gonzalo II Fernández de Córdoba (1520-1578) Gonzalo may refer to: * Gonzalo (name) * Gonzalo, Dominican Republic, a small town * Isla Gonzalo, a subantarctic island operated by the Chilean Navy * Hurricane Gonzalo, 2014 See also * Gonzalez (disambiguation) * Gonzales (disambiguation) * ...

, third of the same title, and with the grandson of

Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba (1 September 1453 – 2 December 1515) was a Spanish general and statesman who led successful military campaigns during the Conquest of Granada and the Italian Wars. His military victories and widespread po ...

, another famous Gonzalo, who was called "Gran Capitán". His literary and fiercest personal enemy León Roque de Santiago mentioned that Latino was born in

Baena Baena is a town and municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain located in the Córdoba Province, Spain, province of Córdoba, Andalusia. It is situated near the on the slope of a hill southeast of Córdoba, Spain, Córdoba by road. The popu ...

, as the son of a black slave woman and his master, the Duke of Sessa, Luis Fernández de Córdoba, who was also the father of his childhood friend and protector Gonzalo II Fernández de Córdoba. Latino excelled in classical languages and music, and studied with the famous grammarian Pedro de Mota. The Duke himself commented on his dexterity, calling him: ''"rara avis in terra corbo simillima nigro"'' (in English: "a rare bird, black like a crow"). The

was opened in 1526, five months after the coming of Emperor Dawit II to the city. After the papal bull, it began to confer degrees in 1533 and was set free on 1538. In 1545, in the presence of the Archbishop, the listener of the Real Chancery, Conde de Tendilla, and many other gentlemen, Latino, aged 28 years old, received the degree of Bachelor. One of the houses he frequently visited to teach his varied grammatical teachings was the property of the Duke's administrator Licenciado Carleval, where his young daughter, Ana de Carleval, received classes from Latino. Ana de Carleval was famous in the city for her extraordinary beauty and her fiancée (by her father) to Don Fernando de Valor (future Abén Humeya). He and the young white lady started a relationship and a marriage took place between 1547 and 1548. They had 4 children. The playwright

Diego Jiménez de Enciso Diego Jiménez de Enciso (1585 – 1634) was a playwright of the Spanish Golden Age. He was much admired and praised by Miguel de Cervantes, Lope de Vega and Juan Pérez de Montalbán; the last considered him a "model for those who wish to wri ...

(1585–1633) composed a comedy about him and his love-affair with his student and future white wife, named ''Juan Latino''. On 31 December 1556, in Granada, Latino received the Chair of grammar and

Latin language Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

of the cathedral which he held for 20 years. Latino retired in 1586 and died between 1594 and 1597. He was buried in the church of Santa Ana de Granada, whose archive from that time has since been burned.

Works

Latino published three volumes of poems between 1573 and 1585.' His poem ''Austrias Carmen,'' was dedicated to

John of Austria John of Austria ( es, Juan, link=no, german: Johann; 24 February 1547 – 1 October 1578) was the natural son born to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V late in life when he was a widower. Charles V met his son only once, recognizing him in a secret ...

after his victory over the Morisco insurrection in Granada, known as the

War of the Alpujarras War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular ...

(1568–1572). He has been hailed as one of the first writers to have used signifyin(g).

Notes

References

*''Black Africans in Renaissance Europe'' ed. Thomas F. Earle and Kate J. P. Low

*''Measuring the moment: strategies of protest in eighteenth-century Afro-English Writing'' by

Keith A. Sandiford Keith Albert Sandiford (born 1947) is a Barbadian-born historian. He has taught literature at Louisiana State University since 1986. Life and career Sandiford was born in Barbados and educated at Combermere School in Bridgetown. He received a B ...

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* O. R. Dathorne. ''The Black mind: a history of African literature''. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press 1974. * Aurelia Martín Casares. ''Juan Latino: talento y destino''. Granada: Universidad de Granada, 2016. * Elizabeth R. Wright. ''The Epic of Juan Latino: Dilemmas of Race and Religion in Renaissance Spain.'' Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2016. * Olivette Otele, ''African Europeans: An untold history''. London: Hurst, 2020, esp. p. 39-66.

External links

Juan Latino, "On the Birth of Untroubled Times" (De natali serenissimi) (1572), selections in English and Spanish (pedagogical edition) with introduction, notes, and bibliography in ''Open Iberia/América'' (open access teaching anthology)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Latino, Juan Academic staff of the University of Granada 1518 births 1596 deaths Spanish slaves University of Granada alumni 16th-century Latin-language writers Latin-language education 16th-century slaves