Martínez de la Rosa, Francisco de Paula

▪ Spanish writer and statesman

born March 10, 1787, Granada, Spain

died February 7, 1862, Madrid

      Spanish dramatist, poet, and conservative statesman.

      He became a professor of philosophy at the University of Granada in 1705. His play La conjuración de Venecia (“The Conspiracy of Venice”), written during his political exile in France (1823–31) and staged in Madrid shortly after he became prime minister of the new government (1834), was the first success of the Romantic theatre in Spain. His importance is purely historical. He later served as ambassador to Paris (1844) and Rome (1848).

* * *