Benito Jerónimo Feijoo

author

Benito Jerónimo Feijoo

1676–1764

A Benedictine monk who became one of the clearest early voices of the Spanish Enlightenment, he wrote lively essays that challenged superstition and urged readers to trust observation and reason. His work helped bring new scientific and critical ideas to a wide Spanish-speaking audience.

4 Audiobooks

Essays, or discourses, vol. 2 (of 4) : $b Selected from the works of Feyjoo, and translated from the Spanish

Essays, or discourses, vol. 2 (of 4) : $b Selected from the works of Feyjoo, and translated from the Spanish

by Benito Jerónimo Feijoo

Essays, or discourses, vol. 1 (of 4) : $b Selected from the works of Feyjoo, and translated from the Spanish

Essays, or discourses, vol. 1 (of 4) : $b Selected from the works of Feyjoo, and translated from the Spanish

by Benito Jerónimo Feijoo

Essays, or discourses, vol. 3 (of 4) : $b Selected from the works of Feyjoo, and translated from the Spanish

Essays, or discourses, vol. 3 (of 4) : $b Selected from the works of Feyjoo, and translated from the Spanish

by Benito Jerónimo Feijoo

Essays, or discourses, vol. 4 (of 4) : $b Selected from the works of Feyjoo, and translated from the Spanish

Essays, or discourses, vol. 4 (of 4) : $b Selected from the works of Feyjoo, and translated from the Spanish

by Benito Jerónimo Feijoo

About the author

Born in 1676 in Galicia, Benito Jerónimo Feijoo entered the Benedictine order and spent much of his career in Oviedo. He became known not just as a monk and scholar, but as a gifted public writer who wanted learning to reach ordinary readers rather than stay locked inside universities and monasteries.

His most famous books, Teatro crítico universal and Cartas eruditas y curiosas, gathered essays on medicine, science, history, religion, and everyday beliefs. Again and again, he tested popular claims against evidence and argument, earning a reputation as a patient debunker of errors, superstitions, and fashionable nonsense.

Feijoo died in 1764, but his influence lasted well beyond his lifetime. He is still remembered as a major figure in 18th-century Spanish thought: a writer who made curiosity feel practical, skepticism feel humane, and serious ideas accessible to a broad reading public.