Spanish scholar
In this
Spanish name
, the first or paternal
surname
is
Menendez
and the second or maternal family name is
Pelayo
.
Marcelino Menendez y Pelayo
(
Spanish pronunciation:
[ma?θe?lino
me?nendeθ
i
pe?la?o]
; 3 November 1856 ? 19 May 1912)
[1]
was a Spanish scholar, historian and literary
critic
. Even though his main interest was the
history of ideas
, and Hispanic
philology
in general, he also cultivated
poetry
,
translation
and
philosophy
. He was nominated for the
Nobel Prize in Literature
five times.
[2]
Biography
[
edit
]
He was born at
Santander
where he showed that he was an infant prodigy. His brother said in his memoirs that at the age of twelve he translated
Virgil
without a dictionary and read the
History of England
by
Oliver Goldsmith
.
[3]
At only 15, he studied literature under
Manuel Mila i Fontanals
at the
University of Barcelona
(1871?1872), then proceeded to the central
University of Madrid
. His academic success was unprecedented; a special law was passed by the
Cortes
to enable him to become a professor at 22. Three years later, in 1880, he was elected a member of the
Real Academia Espanola
, but he was already well known throughout Spain.
His first volume,
Estudios criticos sobre escritores montaneses
(1876), had attracted little notice at first. He then produced his scholarly investigation
Horacio en Espana
(1877), an analysis of
Horace
's translations in Spanish literature, with a prologue by the prominent critic
Juan Valera
. He became famous through his
Ciencia espanola
(1878), a collection of essays vindicating the existence of a scientific tradition in
Spain
. The orthodoxy of this work is even more noticeable in the
Historia de los heterodoxos espanoles
(1880?1886), and the writer was hailed as the champion of the
Ultramontane
party.
As the
Catholic Encyclopedia
(1908?10) described his work, "Every page of his writings reveals a wealth of strong common sense, clear perception, and a vein of wonderful and ever varying erudition. Thoroughly
Catholic
in spirit, he found his greatest delight, he declared, in devoting all his work to the glory of God and the exaltation of the name of Jesus".
His lectures (1881) on
Calderon
established his reputation as a literary critic. His work as an historian of
Spanish literature
was continued in his
Historia de las ideas esteticas en Espana
("History of aesthetic ideas in Spain") (1883-1891), which are five volumes in which he explores, summarizes and reinterprets the existing bibliography on literary and artistic aesthetics at different times of the Spanish cultural tradition.
He undertook the publication of the works of
Lope de Vega
(1890-1902) in 13 volumes. Another tremendous work was his Anthology of Castilian Lyric Poets (1890-1908), again 13 volumes devoted to medieval poetry (except the last one, dedicated to
Juan Boscan Almogaver
). He also devoted much time to his
Origenes de la novela
("The origins of the novel"), three volumes published in 1905, 1907 and 1910, with a fourth posthumous volume where he examined the imitations that
La Celestina
gave rise to in the 16th century. Simultaneously, he published the Anthology of Hispano-American Poets (1893-1895), 4 volumes that are actually a History of Hispano-American poetry as he titled it when reissuing it in 1911. Although some of his judgments, mainly those related to the defense of Spanish tradition, are no longer accepted,
[
citation needed
]
his studies of Spanish literature (
Medieval
,
Renaissance
, and
Golden Age
) are still valuable.
[
who?
]
He died at Santander. He is buried in
Santander Cathedral
, where his monument may still be seen.
Disciples
[
edit
]
Among his many disciples can be mentioned:
Ludwig Pfandl
, German Hispanist and biographer of many important Spanish historical figures;
Ramon Menendez Pidal
, founder of Hispanic philology as a scientific discipline; Adolfo Bonilla y San Martin, editor of the
Obras completas
of
Miguel de Cervantes
, among other works; and Jose Maria Sanchez Muniain, chair of Aesthetics at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, who compiled the
Antologia general de Menendez Pelayo
.
Summary of important works
[
edit
]
La ciencia espanola
(1876) is a claim of the existence of a scientific tradition in Spain.
Horacio en Espana
(1877) is an analysis of the translations of
Horace
in Spanish literature, according to Horace's classical dispositions. His work
Historia de los heterodoxos espanoles
(1880?1882) is particularly famous and valued today especially where the Christian traditions of Spain are studied. From the Middle Ages to the ending of the 19th century, he breaks down the work of all the thinkers and writers persecuted by the Spanish Catholic traditions, taking the perspective of Catholicism. In his second edition he corrected some of his perspectives, but not, for example, his jests and ironies against the
Krausists
and the
Hegelianists
, especially
Emilio Castelar
.
Historia de las ideas esteticas en Espana
(1883?1891) is five volumes long and very up to date. They explore, summarize, and reinterpret the existing bibliography about literary esthetics and artistics in distinct eras of the Spanish cultural tradition.
[6]
Menendez Pelayo took on three large works that would keep him occupied almost until the time of his death. One is the publication of
Obras de Lope de Vega
(1890?1902), written in 13 volumes; the second is the
Antologia de poetas liricos castellanos
(1890?1908), another 13 volumes dedicated to medieval poetry, except for the last, dedicated to
Juan Boscan
. As well, despite its title, it includes epic poetry along with didactic poetry, changing
Antologia
instead to
Historia de la poesia castellana en la Edad Media
, the title of the reprint in 1911. The third work is his study of
Origenes de la novela
, three volumes published in 1905, 1907, and 1910, with a fourth, posthumous, volume in which he analyzes the imitations that gave place in the 16th century for
La Celestina
. He published simultaneously a four volume work called
Antologia de poetas hispano-americanos
(1893?1895), which in reality is
Historia de la poesia hispanoamerica
, as it was titled in the 1911 reedit. He corrected in this edition his appreciations of Peru, after having contact with Marques de Montealegre de Aulestia. The 1911 edition is a general study of all Hispanic-American poetry which served to flatter the ex-colonies with the old and decadent peninsula. He reprinted his work
Estudios de critica literaria
(1892?1908) in five volumes and some
Ensayos de critica filosofica
(1892), in parallel form to each other, which were done in his namesake as the director of the National Library of Madrid.
[7]
Works
[
edit
]
Statue of Marcelino Menendez y Pelayo
in the lobby of the
Biblioteca Nacional de Espana
.
- La novela entre los Latinos
(Santander, 1875). (His doctoral thesis)
- Estudios criticos sobre escritores montaneses. I. Trueba y Cosio
(Santander, 1876).
- Polemicas, indicaciones y proyectos sobre la ciencia espanola
(Madrid, 1876).
- La ciencia espanola
, 2ª edition (Madrid, 1887?1880).
- Horacio en Espana
(Madrid, 1877, 2ª ed. 1885).
- Estudios poeticos
(Madrid, 1878).
- Odas, epistolas y tragedias
(Madrid, 1906).
- Traductores espanoles de la Eneida
(Madrid, 1879).
- Traductores de las Eglogas y Georgicas de Virgilio
(Madrid, 1879).
- Historia de los heterodoxos espanoles
(Madrid, 1880?1882).
- Calderon y su teatro
(Madrid, 1881).
- Dramas de Guillermo Shakespeare
translation (Barcelona, 1881).
- Obras completas de Marco Tulio Ciceron
, translation (Madrid, 1881?1884).
- Historia de las ideas esteticas en Espana
(Madrid, 1883?1889).
- Estudios de critica literaria
(Madrid, 1884).
- Obras de Lope de Vega
, 1890?1902.
- Antologia de poetas liricos castellanos desde la formacion del idioma hasta nuestros dias
, 1890?1908.
- Ensayos de critica filosofica
(Madrid, 1892).
- Antologia de poetas hispano-americanos
, 1893?1895.
- Historia de la poesia hispano-americana
(Madrid, 1911).
- Bibliografia hispano-latina clasica
(Madrid, 1902).
- Origenes de la novela
(Madrid, 1905?1915).
- El doctor D. Manuel Mila y Fontanals. Semblanza literaria
(Barcelona, 1908).
- Obras Completas
, started in 1911.
- "Biblioteca de traductores espanoles", in
Obras Completas
, Madrid
Works in translation
[
edit
]
- A History of the Spanish Heterodox
, Book One, Translated by Eladia Gomez-Posthill; Saint Austin Press, London, 2009;
ISBN
1-901157-98-9
.
See also
[
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]
Notes
[
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]
- ^
Benavente was elected for the position in 1912 but never took the seat
References
[
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]
Attribution:
External links
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[1]
He was elected in 1912 but never took the seat
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