José Zorrilla y Moral

Spanish poet, dramatist, and a major figure of the nationalist wing of the Spanish Romantic movement. Born in Valladolid, Spain in 1817, Zorrilla was educated at the Real Seminario de Nobles and later at the universities of Toledo and Valladolid. He became an overnight success after his dramatic recital of an elegy at the funeral of Mariano José de Larra in 1837 and went on to compose 40 plays, including 'Don Juan Tenorio'. He was crowned Spain’s national poet in 1889.