José Marchena Ruiz de Cueto (November 18, 1768 – January 31, 1821), also known as Abate Marchena, was a Spanish author, who studied with distinction at the

University of Salamanca The University of Salamanca () is a public university, public research university in Salamanca, Spain. Founded in 1218 by Alfonso IX of León, King Alfonso IX, it is the oldest university in the Hispanic world and the fourth oldest in the ...

. He was born at

Utrera Utrera () is a municipality in south-west Spain. It is in the province of Seville, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. As of 2018 it has a population of 52,617. The town is of great historical interest. It was occupied by Muslims in the 8t ...

. He took minor orders and was for some time professor at the

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

of Vergara, but he became a convert to the doctrines of the French ''

philosophes The were the intellectuals of the 18th-century European Enlightenment.Kishlansky, Mark, ''et al.'' ''A Brief History of Western Civilization: The Unfinished Legacy, volume II: Since 1555.'' (5th ed. 2007). Few were primarily philosophers; rathe ...

'', scandalizing his acquaintances by his professions of

materialism Materialism is a form of monism, philosophical monism according to which matter is the fundamental Substance theory, substance in nature, and all things, including mind, mental states and consciousness, are results of material interactions. Acco ...

and his denunciations of

celibacy Celibacy (from Latin ''caelibatus'') is the state of voluntarily being unmarried, sexually abstinent, or both. It is often in association with the role of a religious official or devotee. In its narrow sense, the term ''celibacy'' is applied ...

. His writings being brought before the

Inquisition The Inquisition was a Catholic Inquisitorial system#History, judicial procedure where the Ecclesiastical court, ecclesiastical judges could initiate, investigate and try cases in their jurisdiction. Popularly it became the name for various med ...

in 1792, Marchena escaped to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, where he is said to have collaborated with Marat in ''

L'Ami du peuple ''L'Ami du peuple'' (, ''The Friend of the People'') was a newspaper written by Jean-Paul Marat during the French Revolution. "The most celebrated radical paper of the Revolution", according to historian Jeremy D. Popkin, ''L’Ami du peuple ...

''; at a later date he organized a revolutionary movement at

Bayonne Bayonne () is a city in southwestern France near the France–Spain border, Spanish border. It is a communes of France, commune and one of two subprefectures in France, subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departments of France, departm ...

, returned to Paris, avowed his sympathies with the

Girondist The Girondins (, ), also called Girondists, were a political group during the French Revolution. From 1791 to 1793, the Girondins were active in the Legislative Assembly and the National Convention. Together with the Montagnards, they initiall ...

s, and refused the advances of

Robespierre Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; ; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman, widely recognised as one of the most influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. Robespierre fer ...

. He acted as editor of ''L'Ami des lois'' and other French journals until 1799, when he was expelled from France; he succeeded, however, in obtaining employment under General Moreau, upon whose fall in 1804 he declared himself a

Bonapartist Bonapartism () is the political ideology supervening from Napoleon Bonaparte and his followers and successors. The term was used in the narrow sense to refer to people who hoped to restore the House of Bonaparte and its style of government. In ...

. In 1808 he accompanied

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, brother in law of

Napoléon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

, to Spain as private secretary; in this same year he was imprisoned by the Inquisition, but was released by Emperor Napoléon I brother

Joseph Bonaparte Joseph Bonaparte (born Giuseppe di Buonaparte, ; ; ; 7 January 176828 July 1844) was a French statesman, lawyer, diplomat and older brother of Napoleon Bonaparte. During the Napoleonic Wars, the latter made him King of Naples (1806–1808), an ...

, who appointed him editor of the official ''Gaceta''. In 1813 Marchena retired to

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

, and thence to France, where he supported himself by translating into

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

the works of

Montesquieu Charles Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (18 January 168910 February 1755), generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French judge, man of letters, historian, and political philosopher. He is the principal so ...

Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher ('' philosophe''), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects ...

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...

and Volney. The Liberal triumph of 1820 opened Spain to him once more, but he was coldly received by the revolutionary party. He died at

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 ...

shortly before February 26, 1821. The interest of his voluminous writings is almost wholly ephemeral, but they are excellent specimens of trenchant journalism. His '' Fragmentum Petronii'' (

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

, 1800), which purports to reconstruct missing passages in the current text of

Petronius Gaius Petronius Arbiter"Gaius Petronius Arbiter"
Britannica.com. (; ; ; s ...

's ''Satyricon'', is a testimony to Marchena's fine scholarship; but, by the irony of fate, Marchena is best known by his ''Ode to Christ Crucified'', which breathes a spirit of profound and tender piety.

References

External links

* Works by José Marchena at Spanish

Wikisource Wikisource is an online wiki-based digital library of free-content source text, textual sources operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikisource is the name of the project as a whole; it is also the name for each instance of that project, one f ...

Point de gouvernement révolutionnaire ou Observations sur le projêt de décret présenté par Thibaudeau à la séance du 7 Floréal
at the

Bibliothèque nationale de France The (; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites, ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository of all that is published in France. Some of its extensive collections, including bo ...

Quelques réflexions sur les fugitifs français depuis le 2 septembre
at the Bibliothèque nationale de France
J. Marchena aux assemblées primaires
at the Bibliothèque nationale de France
Fragmentum Petronii
(1800 edition)
Fragmentum Petronii
(1865 edition)
Description géographique et historique des trois provinces dites Vascongades
at the Bibliothèque nationale de France *''Lecciones de filosofía moral y elocuencia''
Volume IVolume II
* ''Obras literarias de D. José Marchena (el Abate Marchena) recogidas de manuscritos y raros impresos con un estudio crítico-biográfico del doctor D. Marcelino Menéndez y Pelayo''
Volume IVolume II
* Rinaldo Froldi

at the

Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes The Miguel de Cervantes Virtual Library (MCVL; in , BVMC) is a large-scale digital library project, hosted and maintained by the University of Alicante in Alicante, Spain. It comprises the largest open-access repository of digitised Spanish-langua ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marchena Ruiz de Cueto, Jose Spanish male writers Spanish writers in French Spanish–French translators Afrancesados 1768 births 1821 deaths University of Salamanca alumni 19th-century Spanish translators