Tirso de Molina

James A. Parr (University of California, Riverside)

Ed. by Stuart Green, University of Leeds
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.6.2.01: Spanish Literature and Culture from the Beginning to the Golden Age.
Vol. editors: Andrew M. Beresford (University of Durham), Stuart Green (University of Leeds), Juan Pablo Rodriguez (Yale University), Duncan Wheeler (University of Leeds)

Dates

Born 24 Mar 1579
Died 20 Feb 1648
Activity 1600-1648

Places

Born in Spain
Active in Spain

Activities

Primary

Playwright / Dramatist

Resources

Tirso de Molina is the pseudonym of Fray Gabriel Téllez, a worldly Mercedarian friar and also a prolific playwright, who is reputed to have written over four hundred plays. The details of his birth and paternity remain veiled, but the best evidence suggests that he was sired out of wedlock by a noble father—someone of considerable standing at court—and that he was born on March 24, 1579, St. Gabriel’s day. He was reared by his mother and assumed her surname. The date of his death is thought to be February 20, 1648.

Tirso is considered today to be one of the four major playwrights of Spain’s Golden Age. He is in good company in that regard, with Lope de Vega, Juan Ruiz de Alarcón, and Pedro Calderón de la Barca. …

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788 words

Citation: Parr, James A.. "Tirso de Molina". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 04 November 2009 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5483, accessed 22 November 2024.]

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