Juan Meléndez Valdés was a Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 neoclassical

Spanish Enlightenment literature

Spanish Enlightenment literature is the literature of Spain written during the Age of Enlightenment.During the 18th century a new spirit was born which swept away the older values of the Baroque and which receives the name of "Enlightenment"...

 poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

.

Biography

He was born at Ribera del Fresno

Ribera del Fresno

Ribera del Fresno is a municipality located in the province of Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain. , the municipality has a population of 3,466 inhabitants.It is the hometown of friar Juan Macias....

, in what is now the province of Badajoz. Destined by his parents for the priesthood, he graduated in law at Salamanca

Salamanca

Salamanca is a city in western Spain, in the community of Castile and León. Because it is known for its beautiful buildings and urban environment, the Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. It is the most important university city in Spain and is known for its contributions to...

, where he became indoctrinated with the ideas of the French philosophical school. In 1780 with Batilo, a pastoral in the manner of Garcilaso de la Vega

Garcilaso de la Vega

Garcilaso de la Vega was a Spanish soldier and poet. He was the most influential poet to introduce Italian Renaissance verse forms, poetic techniques and themes to Spain.-Biography:...

, he won a prize offered by the Spanish academy; next year he was introduced to Jovellanos

Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos

Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos was an Asturian-born Spanish neoclassical statesman, author, philosopher and a major figure of the Age of Enlightenment in Spain.-Life:...

, through whose influence he was appointed to a professorship at Salamanca in 1783.

The pastoral scenes in Las Bodas de Camacho (1784) do not compensate for its undramatic nature, but it gained a prize from the municipality of Madrid

Madrid

Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

. A volume of verses, lyrical and pastoral, published in 1785, caused Meléndez Valdés to be hailed as the first Spanish poet of his time. This success induced him to resign his chair at Salamanca, and try his fortune in politics. Once wore the friendship of Jovellanos obtained for him in 1789 a judgeship at Zaragoza

Zaragoza

Zaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...

, whence he was transferred two years later to a post in the chancery court at Valladolid

Valladolid

Valladolid is a historic city and municipality in north-central Spain, situated at the confluence of the Pisuerga and Esgueva rivers, and located within three wine-making regions: Ribera del Duero, Rueda and Cigales...

. In 1797 he dedicated to Godoy

Manuel de Godoy

Don Manuel Francisco Domingo de Godoy y Álvarez de Faria, de los Ríos y Sánchez-Zarzosa, also Manuel de Godoy y Álvarez de Faria de los Ríos Sánchez Zarzosa , was Prime Minister of Spain from 1792 to 1797 and from 1801 to 1808...

 an enlarged edition of his poems, the new matter consisting principally of unsuccessful imitations of John Milton

John Milton

John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...

 and Thomson; but the poet was rewarded by promotion to a high post in the treasury at Madrid.

On the fall of Jovellanos in 1798 Meléndez Valdés was dismissed and exiled from the capital; he returned in 1808 and accepted office as a Minister of Public Instruction in 1811, under Joseph Bonaparte

Joseph Bonaparte

Joseph-Napoléon Bonaparte was the elder brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, who made him King of Naples and Sicily , and later King of Spain...

. He had previously denounced the French usurper in his verses. He now outraged the feelings of his countrymen by the grossest flattery of his foreign master, and in 1813 he fled to Alais. It is around 1812 that he was promoted to be a member of the Royal Spanish Academy, too. Four years later he died in poverty at Montpellier

Montpellier

-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....

. His remains were removed to Spain in 1866 and finally to Madrid, "Panteón de Hombres Ilustres", in 1900.

In natural talent and in acquired accomplishment Meléndez Valdés was not surpassed by any contemporary Spaniard; lie failed from want of character, and his profound insincerity affects his poems. Yet he has fine moments in various veins, and his imitation of Jean Seconds Basia is notable. He was a close friend of the artist Francisco de Goya.