José de Cadalso y Vázquez

José de Cadalso y Vázquez (1741-1782), Spanish author and soldier, well known for his poetry, dramatic works, and essays. Cadalso was born in Cádiz, Spain, and received his education at a Jesuit school in Paris, France. During his youth he traveled extensively in western Europe and became familiar with French and English literature, which later influenced his work.

After returning to Spain, Cadalso joined the army and ultimately rose to the rank of colonel. While stationed in Madrid, he fell in love with the actress María Ibañez, whose sudden death left a lasting effect on his work. Cadalso was then transferred to Salamanca, where he became a member of the Salamancan school of poets. There, he influenced one of Spain’s most notable poets of the time, Juan Meléndez Valdés. After Spain declared war against Great Britain in 1778, Cadalso joined the siege of Gibraltar. He was killed in action there in 1782.

In some of his work, Cadalso may be classed with the precursors of romanticism. Noches lúgubres (Melancholy Nights), a collection of prose dialogues that dramatized the death of Cadalso’s beloved and his attempts to unearth her body, shows the influence of English poet Edward Young's masterpiece The Complaint, or Night Thoughts on Life, Death, and Immortality (1742-45). Cadalso's dependence on French classicism is shown in his plays, the most notable of which is Don Sancho García, conde de Castilla (1771), a historical drama, which suggests the work of the 19th-century romantic dramatist José Zorrilla y Moral. Cadalso's poem Ocios de mi juventud (Diversions of My Youth, 1773) has some inspiring moments and in form shows the influence of Francisco Gomez de Quevedo y Villegas, a Spanish poet known for his satire. In prose Cadalso frequently employed satire, such as in Los Eruditos á la violeta (The Learned on the Violet, 1772). Of all his works, however, Cartas Marruecas (Moroccan Letters, 1793), published after his death, is the most important. This series of fictitious letters—although modeled on Lettres persanes (1721, translated as Persian Letters, 1961), a satire of French politics written by Charles Louis de Secondat Montesquieu—is a highly original handling of the problem of Spain's decline. In this work Cadalso shows himself to be an essayist of unusual ability and one of the most important Spanish prose writers of the 18th century.