Agustín Durán (14 October 17891 December 1862), Spanish scholar, was born in Madrid, where his father was the court

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

. Durán was sent to the seminary at Vergara, whence he returned learned in the traditions of Spanish romance. In 1817 he began the study of

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

at the

university of Seville The University of Seville (''Universidad de Sevilla'') is a university in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. Founded under the name of ''Colegio Santa María de Jesús'' in 1505, in 2022 it has a student body of 57,214,U-Ranking Universidades español ...

, and in due course was admitted to the bar at

Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...

. From 1821 to 1823 he held a post in the education department at Madrid, but in the latter year he was suspended on account of his political opinions. In 1834, Durán became secretary of the board for the

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

of the press, and shortly afterwards obtained a post in the national library at Madrid. The revolution of 1840 led to his dismissal, but he was reinstated in 1843. In 1854, Durán was appointed as the chief librarian. The next year, however, he retired to devote himself to his literary work. In 1828, shortly after his first discharge from office, he published anonymously his ''Discurso sobre el influjo que ha tenido la critica moderna en la decadencia del teatro antiguo''; this treatise greatly influenced the younger dramatists of the day. He next endeavoured to interest his fellow-countrymen in their ancient, neglected ballads, and in the forgotten dramas of the 17th century. Five volumes of a ''Romancero general'' appeared from 1828 to 1832 (republished, with considerable additions, in 2 vols. 1849–1851), and ''Talía española'' (1834), a reprint of old Spanish comedies. Durán's ''Romancero general'' is the fullest collection of the kind and is therefore unlikely to be superseded, though the texts are inferior to those edited by

Marcelino Menéndez y Pelayo Marcelino Menéndez y Pelayo (; 3 November 1856 – 19 May 1912) was a Spanish scholar, historian and literary critic. Even though his main interest was the history of ideas, and Hispanic philology in general, he also cultivated poetry, transl ...

. Durán died in Madrid.

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Duran, Agustin Spanish male writers University of Seville alumni Members of the Royal Spanish Academy 1789 births 1862 deaths