Juan Ruiz de Alarcón y Mendoza
(1581-1639), México. Writer

He was one of the most important playwrights of Spain's 17th-century Golden Age. His drama is unique in its period in that it concentrates on social mores and individual conduct, instead of on the broad philosophical issues which were considered more important at that time.

Alarcon's protagonists are liars, schemers, and egotists whose weaknesses are humorous but intolerable to virtuous men and women. His most famous play, La verdad sospechosa (The Suspected Truth, written about 1610), concerns a liar who is ultimately punished. It was adapted as Le Menteur (1643) by the French playwright Corneille, who gave it a happier ending. Alarcón was afflicted with a hunchback. Born in Mexico, he lived there for many years, but emigrated to Madrid to pursue his literary career. His views on morality and society were far ahead of their time, and he was the subject of much ridicule by his contemporaries.

Source: The 1995 Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. Submitted by Charles de Córdova