José Zorrilla

For thePRISenator fromVeracruz,seeJosé Yunes Zorrilla.

In thisSpanish name,the first or paternalsurnameisZorrillaand the second or maternal family name isMoral.

José Zorrilla
Born	José Zorrilla y Moral (1817-02-21)21 February 1817 Valladolid,Spain
Died	23 January 1893(1893-01-23)(aged 75) Madrid,Spain
Occupation	Poet,playwright
Language	Spanish
Literary movement	Romanticism
Notable works	Don Juan Tenorio
Spouse	Florentina O’Reilly, Juana Pacheco
Signature
SeatLof theReal Academia Española
In office 31 May 1885 – 23 January 1893
Preceded by	José Caveda y Nava
Succeeded by	Zeferino González y Díaz Tuñón

José Zorrilla y Moral(Spanish pronunciation:[xoˈseθoˈriʎa]) was a Spanish poet anddramatist,who became National Laureate.

Biography

Zorrilla was born inValladolidto amagistratein whomFerdinand VIIplaced special confidence. He was educated by theJesuitsat the Real Seminario de Nobles inMadrid,wrote verses when he was twelve, became an enthusiastic admirer ofWalter ScottandChateaubriand,and took part in the school performances of plays byLope de VegaandCalderón de la Barca.

In 1833, he was sent to study law at the university ofToledo,but after a year of idleness, he fled to Madrid, where he horrified the friends of his absolutist father by making violent speeches and by founding a newspaper which was promptly suppressed by the government. He narrowly escaped transportation to the Philippines, and passed the next few years in poverty.

The death of thesatiristMariano José de Larrabrought Zorrilla into notice. His elegiac poem, read at Larra's funeral in February 1837, introduced him to the leading men of letters. In 1837 he published a book of verses, mostly imitations ofAlphonse de LamartineandVictor Hugo,which was so favourably received that he printed six more volumes within three years.

After collaborating withAntonio García Gutiérrezon the playJuán Dondolo(1839), Zorrilla began his individual career as a dramatist withCada cual con su razón(1840), and during the next five years he wrote 22 plays, many of them extremely successful. HisCantos del trovador(1841), a collection of national legends written in verse, made Zorilla second only toJosé de Esproncedain popular esteem.

National legends also supply the themes of his dramas, which Zorilla often constructed by adapting older plays that had fallen out of fashion. For example, inEl Zapatero y el Reyhe recastsEl montanés Juan Pascualby Juan de la Hoz y Mota; inLa mejor Talon la espadahe borrows fromAgustín Moreto y Cavana'sTravesuras del estudiante Pa-atoja.His famous playDon Juan Tenoriois a combination of elements fromTirso de Molina'sBurlador de Sevillaand fromAlexandre Dumas, père'sDon Juan de Marana(which itself derives fromLes Âmes du purgatoirebyProsper Mérimée). However, plays likeSancho García,El Rey loco,andEl Alcalde Ronquilloare much more original. He considered his last play,Traidor, inconfeso y mártir(1845), to be his best play.

Upon the death of his mother in 1847, Zorrilla left Spain. He resided for a while atBordeaux,and settled in Paris, where his incomplete poemGranadawas published in 1852. In a fit of depression, he emigrated to America three years later, hoping, he claimed, thatyellow feverorsmallpoxwould kill him. During eleven years in Mexico he wrote very little. He returned to Spain in 1866, to find himself half-forgotten and considered old-fashioned.

Friends helped Zorilla obtain a small post, but the republican minister later abolished it. He was always poor, especially for the 12 years after 1871. The publication of his autobiography,Recuerdos del tiempo viejoin 1880, did nothing to alleviate his poverty. Though his plays were still being performed, he received no money from them.

Finally, in his old age, critics began to reappraise his work, and brought him new fame. He received a pension of 30,000 reales, a gold medal of honor from the Spanish Academy, and, in 1889, the title of National Laureate.He died in Madrid on 23 January 1893.

In his early years, Zorrilla was known as an extraordinarily fast writer. He claimed he wroteEl Caballo del Rey Don Sanchoin three weeks, and that he put togetherEl Puñal del Godoin two days. This may account for some of the technical faults—redundancy and verbosity—in his works. His plays often appeal to Spanish patriotic pride, and actors and audiences have enjoyed his effective dramaturgy.Don Juan Tenoriois his best-known work.

External links

• Works by José ZorrillaatProject Gutenberg
• Works by José ZorrillaatLibriVox(public domain audiobooks)
• Works by or about José ZorrillaatInternet Archive