author
Félix María Samaniego
1745–1801
Best known for lively moral fables, this 18th-century Spanish writer turned talking animals and sharp wit into stories that generations of students have grown up reading. His verses are clear, playful, and often gently satirical.
1 Audiobook
Fábulas
by Félix María Samaniego
About the author
Born in Laguardia, Álava, on October 12, 1745, Félix María de Samaniego was a Spanish neoclassical writer remembered above all as a master of the fable. He was educated at Valladolid and came from a well-connected Basque family, which helped place him within the intellectual world of the Spanish Enlightenment.
His most famous work is Fábulas en verso castellano, written for the students of the Real Seminario Bascongado. These poems, published in the early 1780s, gave familiar animal tales a fresh, elegant Spanish voice. Their grace, simplicity, and moral bite made them hugely popular, and they became a lasting part of Spanish literary education.
Samaniego died in Laguardia on August 11, 1801. He remains one of Spain's best-known fabulists, admired for writing verse that is easy to enjoy but clever enough to linger in the mind.