Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the Spanish writer. For the Cuban town, see
Jovellanos, Cuba
.
Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos
Real Academia Española
In office
23 September 1783 – 27 November 1811
Preceded byJavier Arias Dávila y Centurión
Succeeded byTomás José González-Carvajal

Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos (born Gaspar Melchor de Jove y Llanos, 5 January 1744 – 27 November 1811) was a Spanish neoclassical statesman, author, philosopher and a major figure of the Age of Enlightenment in Spain.

Life and influence of his works

Jovellanos Street in Madrid

Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos (pseudonym Jovino) was born at

Ávila, and the University of Alcalá, before becoming a criminal judge at Seville in 1767.[1]

His integrity and ability were rewarded in 1778 by a judgeship in Madrid, and in 1780 by appointment to the council of military orders. In the capital Jovellanos was a respected member of the literary and scientific societies; he was commissioned by the Society of Friends of the Country (Madrid's economic society) in 1787 to write his most well-known and influential work, Informe en el expediente de ley agraria ("A report on the dossier of the Agrarian Law"),[1] a project which he completed in 1794, and published in 1795.

In his work on agrarian law, he called on the crown to eliminate the

Constitution of 1917.[4]

Involved in the disgrace of his friend, Francisco de Cabarrús, Jovellanos spent the years 1790 to 1797 in what amounted to exile at Gijón, engaged in literary work and in founding the Asturian institution for agricultural, industrial, social and educational reform throughout his native province.[1]

He was summoned again to public life in 1797 when, turning down the post of ambassador to

Godoy, whose attention had been directed to him by Cabarrús, then one of his favorites. Displeased with Godoy's policy and conduct, Melchor de Jovellanos combined with his colleague Saavedra to procure his dismissal. Godoy returned to power in 1798 and Jovellanos was again sent away to Gijón.[1]

Together with Asturian intellectual colleagues such as González Posada, Caveda y Solares and his sister

Majorca
) and was forced to put all his cultural projects on hold.

The

Supreme Central Junta and contributed to reorganizing the Cortes Generales. This accomplished, the Junta at once fell under suspicion, and Jovellanos was involved in its fall. In 1811 he was enthusiastically welcomed to Gijón; but the approach of the French forced him to leave once more. The vessel in which he sailed was compelled by bad weather to put in at Vega de Navia (now known as Puerto de Vega) in Asturias, and there he died from pneumonia on November 27, 1811.[1]

Pedro de Silva, the second President of the Principality of Asturias, is a direct descendant of Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos through his mother, María Jesús Cienfuegos-Jovellanos Vigil-Escalera.[5]

Works

Jovellanos's prose works, especially those on political and legislative economy, constitute his real claim to literary fame. In them, depth of thought and clear-sighted sagacity are couched in a certain

travel journals
(1790–1801, first published in 1915) reflecting his trips across Northern Spain. He also published several other political and social essays.

His poetical works comprises a tragedy, Pelayo, the comedy El delincuente honrado, satires and miscellaneous pieces such as a translation of a French tragedy by Jean Racine, La Ifigenia [7] and a translation of the first book of Paradise Lost.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Chisholm 1911, p. 525.
  2. ^ D.A. Brading, The First America, Cambridge University Press 1991, pp. 510-511
  3. ^ Brading, The First America, p. 565.
  4. ^ Stanley F. Shadle, Andrés Molina Enríquez: Land Reformer of the Mexican Revolutionary Era. Tucson: University of Arizona Press 1994, pp. 23-25.
  5. ^ "Fallece a los 85 años la madre de Pedro de Silva". La Voz de Asturias. 2004-08-10. Archived from the original on 2011-07-20. Retrieved 2011-01-08.
  6. ^ Chisholm 1911, pp. 525–526.
  7. ^ Frederick A. de Armas, "Jovellanos e Ifigenia: Racine, Boscan y la tradicion pictorica," Homenaje a Josep M. Sala-Valldaura, Scriptura 26 (2019): 63-72.

Further reading

  • Polt, John Herman Richard. Gaspar Melchor De Jovellanos. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1971.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gaspar_Melchor_de_Jovellanos&oldid=1216763607"