Modesto Lafuente y Zamalloa (1 May 1806 at

Rabanal de los Caballeros Rabanal may refer to: * Rabanal (surname) *Rabanal, Cidra, Puerto Rico Rabanal is a barrio in the municipality of Cidra, Puerto Rico. Its population in 2010 was 4,228. History Puerto Rico was ceded by Spain in the aftermath of the Spanish–Ame ...

Cervera de Pisuerga Cervera de Pisuerga is a municipality located in the province of Palencia, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census (INE INE, Ine or ine may refer to: Institutions * Institut für Nukleare Entsorgung, a German nuclear research c ...

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– 25 October 1866 at Madrid) was a Spanish critic and historian. In 1861 he was elected

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and, in February 7, 1862, he assumed the office of acting president of the Congress due to the death in office of Francisco Martínez de la Rosa until February 18, 1862.

Biography

He received his early education in his native town, but later took courses at the Universities of Santiago, Astorga and Valladolid, receiving at the last institution the degree of Bachelor of Theology in 1832. He was appointed to the chair of philosophy and later to that of theology at the University of Astorga, but he remained only a short time, for he decided to devote himself to journalism, and moved to Madrid.

Writings

Under the pseudonyms of Fray Gerundio and Pelegrin Tirabeque, he wrote many ''capilladas'' or essays on a great variety of subjects, including the political questions of the day. According to Ferrer del Rio, he borrowed the pseudonym Fray Gerundio from the work of Father Isla. His essays, and all his works, were written in an easy, flowing, popular style, and they became so popular that it was not long before his paper was read in every corner of Spain. The essays were collected as ''Capilladas'' (1837–40) and as ''Teatro social del siglo XIX'' (1846), the latter dealing with the manners and customs of the day. Lafuente's chief work, by which he is best known, is his ''Historia general de España'', which he published in Madrid (1850–1869, 30 volumes). A second edition (13 volumes) was published in 1874–1875. It was later edited and revised by

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(25 vols., 1887–90). Another notable work is ''Viaje aerostático del Fray Gerundio y Tirabeque''. It is divided into two parts, the first being a review of aerial navigation, and the second, a satire on the political situation in Europe. The important events of 1848 caused him to write his ''Revista Europea'' which he published as a periodical for about one year.

Notes

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lafuente, Modesto 1806 births 1866 deaths People from the Province of Palencia 19th-century Spanish historians Spanish journalists Spanish satirists 19th-century Spanish journalists Spanish male journalists 19th-century male writers