Dictionary.net

A Spanish poet (1800-73); born in the province of Logrono. He is the most notable Spanish poet of the first half of the 19th century. He gave to the Spanish stage 150 plays, some of them original, others derived from ancient Spanish sources or translated from French or Italian. In him the old French comedy finds not so much an imitator as its last true representative. Among his best original comedies are: "I'm Going Back to Madrid"; "Here I am in Madrid"; "This World is All a Farce"; "Die Once and You'll See". He was less successful in the historic drama than in comedy. His satiric poems, "Hypocrisy"; "Moral Epistle on the Manners of the Age"; and "Shamelessness", are not unworthy of their author's great fame.