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Leandro Fernández de Moratín | |
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 Moratín painted byGoya | |
| Born | (1760-03-10)10 March 1760 |
| Died | 21 June 1828(1828-06-21) (aged 68) |
| Resting place | Pantheon of Illustrious Men |
| Occupations |
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Leandro Fernández de MoratínORE (Spanish pronunciation:[leˈandɾofeɾˈnandeθðemoɾaˈtin]; 10 March 1760 – 21 June 1828) was a Spanish dramatist, translator andneoclassical poet. He was a major poet, dramatist and man of letters whose writings promoted the reformist ideas associated with theSpanish Enlightenment.[1]
Moratín was born inMadrid the son ofNicolás 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 ofEnlightenment thought.[citation needed] Though his poetical tastes were early developed, his father apprenticed him to a jeweller. At the age of eighteen Moratín won the second prize of the Academy[which?] for a heroic poem on theconquest of Granada, and two years afterwards he attracted more general attention with hisLección poética, asatire upon the popular poets of the day.[1] Early in his career, he was supported by statesman and authorGaspar Melchor de Jovellanos, 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.[citation needed]
On his return to Spain, Moratín wastonsured and presented to asinecurebenefice in the diocese ofBurgos.[1] In 1790 he published his first comedyEl 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 playLa comedia nueva (The New Comedy), a dramatic attack on the extravagant plots used by other contemporary playwrights.[1]
On the fall ofFloridablanca, Moratín found another patron inManuel Godoy, who provided him with apension and the means for foreign travel; he accordingly visited England, where he began a prose translation ofHamlet, printed in 1798 but never performed. From England he passed to theLow Countries,Germany,Switzerland andItaly, and on his return to Spain 1796 was appointed official translator to the foreign office. In 1804 he producedLa Mogigata, written between 1797 and 1803. This piece was favourably received, and an attempt to suppress it on religious grounds failed.[1]
Asupporter ofJoseph Bonaparte, whose rule had allowed far more expression of liberal thinking than Spain'sBourbon monarchCarlos IV was willing to tolerate, Moratín was given the post of royal librarian. However, his 1805 comedyEl sí de las niñas (The Maidens' Consent) was denounced upon the reinstatement of theInquisition whenFerdinand VII regained the throne after the fall of the Bonapartes, and he had to abandon playwriting and was forced into exile in France. In 1812 hisEscuela de los maridos, a translation ofMolière'sÉcole des maris, was produced at Madrid, and in 1813El Médico á Palos (a translation ofLe Médecin malgré lui) at Barcelona. From 1814 to 1828 Moratín lived in Italy and France, compiling a work on the early Spanish drama (Orígenes del teatro español).[1]
Moratín died in Paris and was buried there in thePère Lachaise Cemetery. However, at the turn of the 20th century, his remains were brought back to Spain for interment in Madrid'sPanteón de Hombres Ilustres (Pantheon of Illustrious Men).
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Moratín, Leandro Antonio Eulogio Melitón Fernandez de".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 18 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 816.
