Juan Valera y Alcalá-Galiano (18 October 1824 – 18 April 1905) was a Spanish realist author, diplomat, and politician.

Life

He was born at Cabra, in the province of Córdoba, and was educated at

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

and at the

University of Granada The University of 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. Apart from the city of Granad ...

, where he took his degree in law, and then entered upon a diplomatic career (1847). Over five decades, Valera filled a number of positions in a variety of places. He accompanied the Spanish Ambassador to

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

. Afterwards, he was a member of the Spanish legations at

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

(1850),

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

(1851–53),

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

and

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

(1854–57 with the

Duke of Osuna Duke of Osuna is a Spanish noble title that was first awarded in 1562 by King Philip II of Spain to Pedro Girón, 1st Duke of Osuna, Pedro Girón de la Cueva, (Osuna, Seville, 29 July 1537 – 1590). Pedro was also Viceroy of Naples, (1582–15 ...

). He wrote about the latter mission in ''Cartas desde Rusia'', poking "gentle fun" at his fellow diplomat, Mauricio Álvarez de las Asturias Bohorques y Guiráldez, the third Duke of Gor. After his return to

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 became one of the editors of the liberal journal ''El Contemporáneo'' (1859), and was appointed Minister to

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

(1865). After the revolution of 1868 he was appointed Assistant Secretary of State and (1871) Director of Public Instruction. During the reign of Alphonso XII he was Minister to

(1881–83),

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

(1883–86), and

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

(1886–88), and in 1893-95 Ambassador to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. He was elected to the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences in 1900. Throughout his diplomatic and political activity he produced works which rank among the highest that his country's literature contains. For purity of diction and beauty of style Valera has never been surpassed in Spain. ''Pepita Jiménez'', which appeared as a serial in 1874, is probably his best known work; it has since been translated into many languages. It depicts the gradual realization by a young seminarian of the empty vanity of his vocation, culminating in a shattering denouement. Other novels are ' (1875), ' (1877), ', and ' (1879). All of the foregoing novels were written around the time when he abandoned his political activities. He was also a supporter of Iberian Federalism.

Literature

* Juan Valera, ''Dona Luz: A Novel'', translated by Robert M. Fedorchek
Bucknell University Press
(2002). * Juan Valera, ''Obras Completas'' (Madrid, 1905 et seq., 43 volumes to 1916) * Juan Valera, ''The Illusions of Doctor Faustino'', translated by Robert M. Fedorchek. The Catholic University of America Press (2008) * Juan Valera, ''Juanita la Larga'', translated by Robert M. Fedorchek.

The Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is one of two pontifical universities of the Catholic Church in the United States – the only one that is not primarily ...

(2006) * Ferdinand Brunetière, ''La casuistique dans le roman de Juan Valera'', in his series ''Histoire et littérature'', volume i (Paris, 1884) * Emilia Pardo Bazán, "Retratos y apuntes literaros," in ''Obras completas'', volume xxxii (Madrid, 1891 et seq.) * Conde de Casa Valencia, ''Necrologia de ... D. J. V.'' (Madrid, 1905) * Conde de las Navas, ''Don Juan Valera'' (Madrid, 1905) * J. D. Fitz-Gerald, "Juan Valera," in ''The Bookman'', volume xxi (New York, 1905) * Karimi, Kian-Harald (2007): Jenseits von altem Gott und ‘Neuem Menschen’. Präsenz und Entzug des Göttlichen im Diskurs der spanischen Restaurationsepoche. Frankf./M.: Vervuert. * F. Vézinet, ''Les maitres du roman aspagnol contemporain'' (Paris, 1907)

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Valera y Alcala Galiano, Juan 1824 births 1905 deaths People from the Province of Córdoba (Spain) Ambassadors of Spain to Austria-Hungary Ambassadors of Spain to the United States Ambassadors of Spain to Portugal Ambassadors of Spain to Belgium Spanish novelists Spanish male novelists Spanish journalists Members of the Royal Spanish Academy Members of the Académie des sciences morales et politiques 19th-century Spanish novelists 19th-century Spanish male writers Christian novelists