Leandro Fernández de Moratín (; 10 March 1760 – 21 June 1828) was a Spanish dramatist, translator and
neoclassical poet.
Biography
Moratín 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 ...
the son of
Nicolás Fernández de Moratín, a major literary reformer in Spain from 1762 until his death in 1828.
Distrusting the teaching offered in Spain's universities at the time, Leandro grew up in the rich literary environment of his father and became an admirer of
Enlightenment thought. In addition to translating works of
Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, ; ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world liter ...
and
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
into Spanish, he himself was a major poet, dramatist and man of letters whose writings promoted the reformist ideas associated with the
Spanish Enlightenment
The ideas of the Age of Enlightenment () came to History of Spain, Spain in the 18th century with the Spanish royal family, new Bourbon dynasty, following the death of the last House of Habsburg#Spanish Habsburgs: Kings of Spain, Kings of Portugal ...
. Early in his career, he was supported by statesman and author
Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos
Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos (born Gaspar Melchor de Jove y Llanos, 5 January 1744 – 27 November 1811) was a Spain, Spanish Spanish Enlightenment literature, neoclassical statesman, author, philosopher and a major figure of the Age of Enlighte ...
, who, in 1787, arranged for him to study for a year in Paris. In 1792, the Spanish government provided the funds for him to travel to England in order to extend his education. In 1790 he published his first comedy ''El viejo y la niña'' (''The Old Man and the Young Girl''), a sombre work which attacked the consequences of arranged marriages between people of differing ages. Two years later, in 1792, he wrote the play ''La comedia nueva'' (''The New Comedy''), a dramatic attack on the extravagant plots used by other contemporary playwrights.
A
supporter
In heraldry, supporters, sometimes referred to as ''attendants'', are figures or objects usually placed on either side of the shield and depicted holding it up.
Historically, supporters were left to an individual's free choice and were assu ...
of
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 ...
, whose rule had allowed far more expression of liberal thinking than Spain's
Bourbon monarch
Carlos IV was willing to tolerate, Moratín was given the post of royal librarian. However, his 1805 comedy ''
El sí de las niñas'' (''The Maidens' Consent'') was denounced upon the reinstatement of 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 ...
when
Ferdinand VII
Ferdinand VII (; 14 October 1784 – 29 September 1833) was King of Spain during the early 19th century. He reigned briefly in 1808 and then again from 1813 to his death in 1833. Before 1813 he was known as ''el Deseado'' (the Desired), and af ...
regained the throne after the fall of the Bonapartes, and he had to abandon playwriting and was forced into exile in France.
Moratín died in Paris and was buried there in the
Père Lachaise Cemetery
Père Lachaise Cemetery (, , formerly , ) is the largest cemetery in Paris, France, at . With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world.
Buried at Père Lachaise are many famous figures in the ...
. However, at the turn of the 20th century, his remains were brought back to Spain for interment in Madrid's ''
Panteón de Hombres Ilustres'' (''Pantheon of Illustrious Men'').
References
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez De Moratin, Leandro
1760 births
1828 deaths
Writers from Madrid
Spanish dramatists and playwrights
Spanish male dramatists and playwrights
18th-century Spanish poets
Afrancesados
Age of Enlightenment
Members of the Royal Spanish Academy
Translators to Spanish
Royal Order of Spain members
Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery
Spanish male poets
18th-century Spanish male writers