Neoclassical fabulist and poet born in Puerto de la Cruz. Author of "Literary Fables" and a prominent figure of the Spanish Enlightenment.
Tomás de Iriarte was born on 18 September 1750 in Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife. He belonged to an educated family with important connections at the Spanish court: his uncle Juan de Iriarte was Royal Librarian and a renowned Hellenist. At fourteen he went to Madrid to complete his education and never returned to the Canaries. In the capital he became a central figure in the literary and intellectual life of 18th-century Spain.
He worked as a translator at the Secretaría de Estado and was archivist of the Secretaría de la Interpretación de Lenguas, which gave him privileged access to European culture. He translated works by Voltaire, Metastasio and other Enlightenment authors. His most celebrated work is the 'Fábulas literarias' (1782), a collection of 76 verse fables that use animals to criticise the vices of the literary world and defend the aesthetic principles of neoclassicism. They were translated into several languages and brought him international fame.
A sharp polemicist and defender of neoclassicism against baroque theatre, he engaged in noisy literary disputes with contemporaries such as Forner. He also wrote the didactic poem 'La música' (1779), the first work in Castilian devoted entirely to music theory. He died in Madrid on 17 September 1791, barely 40 years old. His precocity and versatility make him one of the most brilliant figures of the Spanish Enlightenment.