author
Luis Vélez de Guevara
1579–1644
A lively voice of Spain’s Golden Age, he wrote for the stage with wit, speed, and a strong feel for character. He is especially remembered today for El diablo cojuelo, a sharp, imaginative satire that kept his name alive long after his own century.
1 Audiobook
El Diablo Cojuelo
by Luis Vélez de Guevara
About the author
Born in Écija in 1579, he became one of the most productive writers of the Spanish Golden Age. Reliable reference sources describe him as a poet, playwright, and novelist who ranked among the notable followers of Lope de Vega, with a particular gift for creating vivid characters.
After studying at the University of Osuna, he served powerful patrons and spent part of his early life in military service before building his literary career in Madrid. Sources on his work say that he wrote a very large number of plays, though only a portion survive today, and that his writing belongs to the rich Baroque world of seventeenth-century Spain.
His best-known prose work is El diablo cojuelo (1641), a fantastical satirical novel whose fame spread beyond Spain through later adaptation. He died in Madrid on November 10, 1644, leaving behind a body of work that still stands out for its energy, theatrical instinct, and inventive humor.