Famous Spanish Literary Critics

José Martínez Ruiz, better known as Azorin, was a prominent Spanish literary critic. He was also credited with naming his group of Spanish writers the Generation of ’98. Though educated in law, he later became a journalist and penned works such as An Hour of Spain, 1560–1590.

Alonso Fernández de Avellaneda is the pseudonym of the unknown author who penned the Second Book of the Ingenious Knight Don Quixote of La Mancha, an unauthorized sequel to Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. Cervantes, however, had criticized the poor quality of Avellaneda’s work, in the original second volume.

Five-time Nobel Prize in Literature-nominated Spanish historian and literary critic Marcelino Menéndez y Pelayo was also a professor of Spanish literature. He also owned a library of around 45,000 books. Interestingly, a law was passed just to let him become a professor at the tender age of 22.

Américo Castro was a Spanish cultural historian. He is remembered for challenging some of the prevailing notions of Spanish identity and raising controversy with his conclusions. He graduated from the University of Granada and pursued an academic career, becoming a professor at the University of Madrid. He later taught at the University of Texas and Princeton University.   

Armando Palacio Valdés was a Spanish novelist and literary critic. He is best remembered for his association with Revista Europea, where his pungent essays were first printed. Armando Palacio Valdés became popular with the readers of Revista, so much so that he was made the editor of the publication.

Benjamin Jarnés was a Spanish writer and soldier. He is best remembered for his 1926 novel El profesor inútil, which achieved popularity and was translated into English as The Useless Professor. When the Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936, Benjamin Jarnés fought on the Republican side. After the war, he fled to Mexico and focused on writing biographies.