Manuel Tamayo

Manuel Tamayo y Baus (15 September 1829 – 20 June 1898) was a Spanish dramatist.

He was born at Madrid, into a family connected with the theatre, his mother being the eminent actress Joaquina Baus. It is interesting to note that she appeared as Geneviève de Brabant in an arrangement from the French made by Tamayo when he was in his twelfth year. Through the influence of his uncle, Antonio Gil y Zárate, minister of education, Tamayo's independence was secured by his nomination to a post in a government office. The earliest of his printed pieces, Juana de Arco (1847), is an arrangement from Schiller, and Una Aventura de Richelieu, which the author has not cared to preserve, is said to be an imitation of Alexandre Dumas, père. The general idea of his Angela (1852) was derived from Schillers Kabale und Liebe, but the atmosphere is Spanish, the situations are original, and the phrasing is Tamayos own.

His first great success was Virginia (1853), a dramatic essay in Alfieri's manner, remarkable for its ingenuity and noble diction. In 1854 Tamayo was expelled from his post by the new Liberal government, but was restored before long by Cándido Nocedal, a minister who had been struck by the young mans talent. He collaborated with Aureliano Fernández-Guerra y Orbe in writing La Ricahembra (1854), a historical drama which recalls the vigour of Lope de Vega. La Locura de Amor (1855), in which Juana la Loca, the passionate, love-sick daughter of Isabel the Catholic, figures as the chief personage, established Tamayo's reputation as Spain's leading playwright. Hija y Madre (1855) is a failure, and La Bola de Nieve (1856) is notable solely for its excellent workmanship.

It is unfortunate that Tamayo's straitened means forced him to put original work aside and to adapt pieces from the French. Examples of this sort are fairly numerous. Lo Positivo (1862), imitated from Adrien-Augustin-Léon Laya's Duc Job, is well-nigh forgotten, though the Spanish version is a dexterous piece of stagecraft and contains some elements of original value. Del dicho al Jiecho (1864) is from La Pierre de touche of Jules Sandeau and Émile Augier, and a pleasing proverb, Más vale Maña que Fuerza (1866) is a great improvement upon Mme Caroline Bertons Diplomatie du Ménage.

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