Quevedo, << kay VAY doh, >> Francisco de (1580-1645), was the leading Spanish humanist of the 1600’s. He wrote extensively on social, political, religious, and aesthetic problems of Spanish Renaissance life. His works include Life of the Swindler (written about 1605 and published in 1626), a cruelly ironic picaresque novel; Visions (1627), a satirical prose portrait of Spanish society; and hundreds of poems on moral and sentimental themes.
Quevedo’s political ideology, which is expressed in the Politics of God (1626) and other works, was modeled on the life and teachings of Christ and contrasted with the harsh realities of Spanish court intrigue. Quevedo’s theological and philosophical essays generally reflect an ascetic and stoic point of view.
Quevedo was born on Sept. 17, 1580, in Madrid. His bitter satires caused him much personal trouble. He was jailed from 1639 to 1643 as the supposed author of verses ridiculing corruption in the court of King Philip IV. He died on Sept. 8, 1645.
