Leandro Fernández de Moratín

Born in Madrid in 1760, he became one of the leading playwrights of neoclassical Spain. His work was shaped by Enlightenment ideals and by a taste for clear, disciplined comedy, with Molière often named as an important model. Alongside plays, he also wrote poetry, essays, and translations.

His most famous play, El sí de las niñas (1806), gently but firmly criticizes the way young women were pressured into marriage. That mix of social criticism and polished theatrical craft helped make him a central figure in Spanish literature.

The political upheavals of the Napoleonic era deeply affected his life. After supporting the regime of Joseph Bonaparte, he went into exile in France, where he spent his final years before dying in 1828.