LUIS VÉLEZ DE GUEVARA (1647)

Poet, playwright and novelist.

His poetry is fluent but undistinguished.
In the drama he ranks high among the followers of Lope de Vega and displays a gift for creating character.
His fantastic satirical novel El diablo cojuelo (1641, The Crippled Devil) became well known from its adaptation by the French dramatist Alain Lesage as Le Diable boiteux (1707).

After soldiering in Italy he held posts in noble and royal households becoming a favourite of Philip IV of Spain.

He was a successful playwright composing more than 400 plays several based on those of Lope. A careless but entertaining playwright he was called Quitapesares (Care Dispeller) by Cervantes.

But his productivity brought him little reward and he eventually died in poverty.

El diablo cojuelo is an extraordinary difficult book, abounding in complicated wordplay.
The more accessible French version eventually brought it a European audience.