Adelardo López de Ayala y Herrera facts for kids
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Adelardo López de Ayala y Herrera (born May 1, 1828 – died December 30, 1879) was an important Spanish writer and politician. He was famous for his plays and his work in the Spanish government.
Life Story of Adelardo López de Ayala
Adelardo López de Ayala was born in a town called Guadalcanal, Seville on May 1, 1828. From a very young age, he loved writing plays for his local theatre. His first plays were written only for men, as women did not act in plays in his town. Later, he convinced his sister to act in his comedy, La Primera Dama. This was a big change and helped him write more freely.
When he was 20, he started studying at the University of Seville. However, he was not a very good student. In Seville, he met Antonio García Gutiérrez, a famous playwright. García Gutiérrez encouraged Adelardo to follow his dream of writing plays.
In 1850, Adelardo moved to Madrid to become a professional writer. Even without many friends or connections, he quickly found success. His play, Un Hombre de Estado, was performed on January 25, 1851. It was a huge hit!
After this success, Adelardo became very popular. He wrote more plays like Castigo y Perdón and Los Dos Guzmanes. He also got a job in the government, working for the Moderado (moderate) political party. He lost this job in 1854 when the Liberal party took power.
In 1854, he wrote Rioja, which many people think is his best play. From 1854 to 1856, he wrote for a political newspaper called El Padre Cobos. He also wrote a zarzuela (a Spanish musical play) called Guerra a Muerte in 1855. The music for this play was written by Emilio Arrieta. They also worked together on El Agente de Matrimonios.
Around this time, Adelardo changed his political views. He switched from the Moderates to the Progressives. This change affected how his plays were received. For example, during performances of his play Los Comuneros, people from different political parties would cheer or boo. They thought the characters' words showed Adelardo's own political ideas.
Another zarzuela called El Conde de Castralla caused a lot of noise and trouble when it was performed on February 20, 1856. The government stopped the play after only three performances because it was causing too much disorder. After this, Adelardo completely broke away from the Moderates. In 1857, he was elected as a Liberal representative for Badajoz. This happened with help from General Leopoldo O'Donnell.
Adelardo's political changes were sometimes hard to understand. Many people criticized him for them. It seemed he didn't have very strong political beliefs and often went with whatever was popular at the time.
He took part in the revolution of 1868. He wrote an important document called the Manifesto of Cadiz. He became a colonial minister, which meant he was in charge of Spain's colonies. He supported Antoine, Duke of Montpensier becoming king. He resigned from his role in 1871. Later, he went back to his earlier conservative ideas. He was also part of Alfonso XII's first government.
Even with all his political changes, most people in Spain admired his plays. His fame grew with plays like El Tanto por Ciento and El Tejado de Vidrio. His last play, Consuelo, was performed on March 30, 1878. Adelardo was chosen to be the president of the congress (a high government position) shortly before he died. He passed away unexpectedly on December 30, 1879.
See Also
In Spanish: Adelardo López de Ayala para niños
