Agustín de Rojas Villandrando (August 1572 – c. 1618) was a Spanish

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

and

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

Early years

Rojas Villandrando was born in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. He served as a soldier in France and was a prisoner in La Rochelle. He was persecuted in Italy for killing a man in Malaga and he took refuge in the temple of San Juan. He bought his freedom with three hundred ducats. He then lived in a number of cities in Spain including Sevilla and Granada.

Work

As Lisa Jackson-Schebetta notes:

Rojas’s career and its documentary record would be of little note, were it not for the fact that he took an authorial turn, penning not plays but rather a 700-page book entitled ''El viaje entretenido'', in which three of the four main characters were based on some of the most well-known actors (including icolás de losRíos) of his time. Neither Lope nor Calderón may have ever mentioned Rojas, but Lope’s friends wrote dedications in the book, and dozens of theatre artists (from famous actresses to dance masters to props artisans) made their appearance in its pages. The book enjoyed multiple reprints. Its success, it seems, prompted Rojas to leave the theatre for a career as a writer.

He was also known for his loas. His work ''El buen republico'' was banned by the Inquisition because it dealt with astrology and the author was suspected of being Jewish.

Death

Rojas Villandrando died in

Paredes de Nava Paredes de Nava is a municipality located in the province of Palencia, Castile and León, Spain. It is the birthplace of Renaissance painter Pedro Berruguete. Some paintings by him can be seen in the predella of the local church of Santa Eulalia ...

sometimes before 1635 since his wife, Ana de Arceo whom he married in 1603, was already called a widow in 1635. His last known correspondence was in 1618.

Works

* ''El viaje entretenido'' ("The Pleasant Voyage")

External links

Biography

References

1572 births 1610s deaths Writers from Madrid Spanish male writers Male actors from Madrid 17th-century Spanish male actors 17th-century Spanish writers Spanish Baroque writers {{Spain-writer-stub