Francisco de Avellaneda

Francisco de Avellaneda (1625? - 1684) was a Spanish poet and dramatist of the Golden Age.

Of Avellaneda's life little is known except that he was a canon at Osma Cathedral in 1669 and styled himself at one time "Censor of plays to His Majesty Charles II". He wrote mainly in collaboration with other poets and playwrights of the time, and is best known as an entremesista or writer of stage 'interludes'. In addition to his entremeses Avellaneda is credited with a number of other minor works for the stage including several bailes, jácaras, mojigangas and loas.

Published works include Cuantas veo tantas quiero (with Sebastián de Villaviciosa); El divino calabrés, San Francisco de Paula (with Juan de Matos Fragoso; Las casas de placer and La boda de Juan Rana (wrongly attributed to Calderón and Jerónimo de Cáncer, respectively); Lo que es Madrid; Los gansos; El niño de la Rollona; El plenipapelier; El hidalgo de la Membrilla; El capuchino escocés; Volverse el rayo en laurel; and the mythological zarzuela, El templo de Palas, with music by Juan Hidalgo.

Sources

• Javier Huerta, Emilio Peral, Héctor Urzaiz, Teatro español de la A a la Z. Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, 2005, p. 51.
• Gema Cienfuegos Antelo, El teatro breve de Francisco de Avellaneda: estudio y edición, Madrid, Fundación Universitaria Española, 2006.
• Gema Cienfuegos Antelo, "Francisco de Avellaneda", in Historia del Teatro Breve en España, Madrid, Iberoamericana-Verbuert, 2008, pp. 409–420.
• Héctor Urzáiz Tortajada y Gema Cienfuegos Antelo, "Francisco de Avellaneda: entremesista y censor de comedias 'por Su Majestad', Carlos II", in Teatro y poder en la época de Carlos II. Fiestas en torno a reyes y virreyes, Judith Farré ed., Madrid, Universidad de Navarra-Iberoamericana Verbuert, 2007, pp. 305–327.