Félix
María Samaniego, (b. Oct. 12, 1745,
Laguardia, Spain—d. Aug. 11, 1801,
Laguardia), poet whose books of fables
for schoolchildren have a grace and
simplicity that has won them a place as
the first poems that Spanish children
learn to recite in school.
Born
into an aristocratic Basque family,
Samaniego came under the influence of
the French Encyclopédistes during his
early travels in France. Returning to
his native country, he devoted the rest
of his life to the welfare of his fellow
Basques. He joined the Basque Society
and taught at its seminary, composing
the Fábulas morales (1781; “Moral
Fables”) for its students. They were an
immediate success and were quickly
established as part of the Spanish
curriculum. The next year, Samaniego
became involved in a literary dispute
with his former friend and fellow
fabulist Tomás de Iriarte, and, because
of an anonymous attack on Iriarte that
contained criticisms of the church,
Samaniego was imprisoned in a monastery
in 1793.
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