José de Cadalso y Vázquez (Cádiz, 1741 –Gibraltar, 1782) was aSpanish soldier, novelist, poet, playwright and essayist. He was one of the major authors ofSpanish Enlightenment literature.
Before completing his twentieth year, Cadalso had traveled throughItaly, Germany, England, France andPortugal, and he had studied the history and literature of these countries. On his return toSpain he entered the army and rose to the rank of colonel.[1]
Cadalso was the embodiment of theEnlightenment ideal of the "hombre de bien", a learned and well-rounded citizen whose multitude of interests could be utilized to improve society. He was a central figure in the literary landscape of eighteenth-century Spain, especially in thetertulia held at the Fonda de San Sebastián. He influenced a number of Spanish authors, not least among them a young and talentedJuan Meléndez Valdés.
His first published work was a verse tragedy,Don Sancho García, Conde de Castilla (1771). In 1772, he published hisLos eruditos a la violeta (Wise men without learning), a commercially successful prose satire on the obsession with superficial knowledge and the appearance of erudition. In 1773 appeared a volume of miscellaneous poems,Ocios de mi juventud (Pastimes of my youth).[1]
Cadalso is best known for hisCartas marruecas (Moroccan letters), an epistolary novel published posthumously by theCorreo de Madrid newspaper from 1789 to 1790, and as a book in 1793. TheCartas marruecas have often been compared toMontesquieu'sLettres persanes (Persian letters, 1721), although in reality both works represented the period's fascination with epistolary narrative.Cartas marruecas andNoches lúgubres (Mournful nights) are often considered Cadalso's best works, although they are stylistically and thematically different.
WhereasCartas marruecas is a rational, multi-perspectival examination of Spanish society through the eyes of a young Moroccan,Noches lúgubres is a short prose work centered on a mourning protagonist's desire to disinter his dead lover. It was inspired by the death of actressMaría Ignacia Ibáñez in Cadalso's arms in April 1771, when she was 26. This work, and a number of Cadalso's anguished lyrics, are considered antecedents ofRomanticism in Spain, if not fully Romantic in their own right.
A three-volume edition of Cadalso's works appeared atMadrid in 1823. This was supplemented by theObras inéditas (Paris, 1894) published by R. Foulch-Delbosc.[1]
Cadalso was killed at theGreat Siege of Gibraltar, on 27 February 1782, just 15 days after being promoted to colonel. He has a tomb inSaint Mary the Crowned Church inSan Roque.[2]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Cadalso Vazquez, José".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 926.
