Antonio Enríquez Gómez facts for kids
Antonio Enríquez Gómez (around 1601 – 1661) was a Spanish dramatist (playwright), poet, and novelist. He came from a Spanish-Jewish family. Early in his career, he was known as Enríque Enríquez de Paz. Sometimes, his name was also spelled Antonio Henrique Gómez.
Antonio was born in Segovia, Spain, into a family of Conversos. Conversos were people who had converted to Christianity, but some secretly kept their Jewish faith. Antonio joined the Spanish Army and became a Captain. Because of his family's background, he faced difficulties and had to leave Spain around 1636.
He moved to France and changed his name to Antonio Enríquez Gómez. There, he became a high-ranking official, a major-domo, for King Louis XIII of France. He even dedicated one of his works, Luis dado de Dios 4 Anna (published in Paris in 1645), to the king.
About twelve years later, he moved to Amsterdam. In Amsterdam, he openly declared his conversion to Judaism. Because of this, the Spanish Inquisition (a powerful religious court in Spain) symbolically punished him in Seville on April 14, 1660. This was done by burning an effigy (a dummy or statue) of him. He then returned to France and passed away the following year.
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His Writings
Antonio Enríquez Gómez wrote many different kinds of works, including plays, poems, and novels.
Plays
Some of his plays were very popular in Madrid around 1629. These included El Gran Cardenal de España, don Gil de Albornoz and the two parts of Fernán Mendez Pinto. These plays were based on the life of the Portuguese explorer Fernão Mendes Pinto.
He also published a collection of four plays called Academias morales de las Musas in Bordeaux in 1642. Another collection, La torre de Babilonia, which included the two parts of Fernán Mendez Pinto, came out in Rouen in 1647.
Poems and Novels
Enríquez Gómez was also a poet. In 1635, he wrote a sonnet (a type of poem) for a collection honoring the famous Spanish writer Lope de Vega. Enríquez Gómez followed Lope de Vega's style of writing plays.
One of his most famous works is El siglo pitagórico y vida de don Gregorio Guadana (Rouen, 1644). This is a unique picaresque novel, which is a story about a clever, often mischievous, hero who travels around and has many adventures. This novel is still reprinted today.
He also wrote La culpa del primer peregrino (Rouen, 1644) and a series of dialogues called Política angélica (Rouen, 1647).
See also
In Spanish: Antonio Enríquez Gómez para niños
