Leandro Fernández de Moratín
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Leandro Fernández de Moratín (March 10, 1760, Madrid—June 21, 1828, Paris) was a Spanish dramatist and neoclassical poet.
He was the son of Nicolás Fernández de Moratín (1737-1780), who was considered Spain's first liberal poet. As such, Leandro grew up in a literary environment and became an admirer of the French Encyclopédistes. In addition to translating works of Molière and William Shakespeare into Spanish, he himself was a satirist who is viewed as the most influential figure of the Spanish Enlightenment. Early in his career, his writings were supported by statesman and author Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos, who, in 1787, arranged for him to work and study for a year in Paris. In 1792, the Spanish government provided the funds for him to travel through France, England, the Netherlands, the Empire, and the states in today's Italy in order to expose him to other dramatists of the day. In that same year, he wrote the play La comedia nueva (The New Comedy), a dramatic representation against the styles and ideologies of other contemporary playwrights. Largely because of this piece, de Moratin is considered the father of modern Spanish comedy.
A supporter of Joseph Bonaparte, whose rule had allowed far more liberal thinking than what Spain's Roman Catholic church was willing to tolerate, Leandro Fernández de Moratín was given the post of royal librarian. His 1806 writing, El sí de las niñas ("The Maidens' Consent") was denounced upon the reinstatement of the Inquisition after King Ferdinand VII regained the throne. Leandro Fernández de Moratín had to abandon playwriting and was forced into exile in France after the fall of the Bonapartes.
Leandro Fernández de Moratín died in France and was buried there in the Père Lachaise Cemetery. 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).
