Fernando de Rojas
Fernando de Rojas (c. 1465/73, in La Puebla de Montalbán, Toledo, Spain – April 1541, in Talavera de la Reina, Toledo, Spain) was a Spanish author and dramatist, known for his only surviving work, La Celestina (originally titled Tragicomedia de Calisto y Melibea), first published in 1499. It is variously considered "the last work of the Spanish Middle Ages or the first work of the Spanish Renaissance".
Fernando de Rojas | |
|---|---|
Rojas by unknown contemporary artist | |
| Mayor of Talavera de la Reina, 1530s | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 1465/73 La Puebla de Montalbán, Toledo, Spain |
| Died | April , 1541 (aged 67-68 or 75-76) Talavera de la Reina, Toledo, Spain |
| Spouse | Leonor Álvarez de Montalbán |
| Children | 7 |
| Alma mater | University of Salamanca |
| Occupation | Author, dramatist, lawyer |
| Known for | Writing La Celestina (1499) |
Rojas wrote La Celestina while still a student. After graduating he practised law and is not known to have written any further literary works, although La Celestina achieved widespread success during his lifetime. Despite difficulties with the Inquisition, Rojas was a successful lawyer and became mayor of Talavera de la Reina, where he lived for the last three decades of his life.