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Juan del Encina

Personal information
Surname: Encina
First name: Juan
Commonly known as: Juan del Encina
Other versions of the name: Enzina
Born: 12 July 1468, Salamanca, Spain
Died: 1529
Biography

Encina is often called the father of Spanish theatre, and is also called Spain’s first dramatist. He began, in his native Salamanca, studying law between 1488 and 1492. He was active in... (Read more...)

Further information

Juan del Encina's name is sometimes spelled ‘Enzina’, and he was possibly known as 'Juan de Fermoselle' before he changed his name to Juan del Encina.

Themes

Encina’s plays were intended for performance at the court; his early plays were religious in nature and designed to be performed by actors in costume, for celebrations in the church cal... (Read more...)

Style

Since Juan del Encina wrote his plays before Aristotle’s works on dramatic precepts, the Poetics, was translated and came to Spain, he does not follow the classical ‘unities’. His Eclog... (Read more...)

Plays in the database
Useful reading and websites
  • Espinosa Maeso, R. 1921. ‘Nuevos datos biográficos de Juan del Encina’, Boletín de la Real Academia Española, 8, 640-56 (in Spanish)

  • Stanislav Zimic, ‘Juan del Encina (or Enzina) (1468-1529)’. In Spanish Dramatists of the Golden Age: A Bio-Bibliographical Sourcebook, ed. Mary Parker, pp. 96-106. Westport, Connecticut, Greenwood Press

  • Sullivan, Henry W. 1976. Juan del Encina. Boston, Twayne

Entry written by Kathleen Jeffs. Last updated on 13 October 2010.

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