biography
pronunciation:
[tapia]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1776–1860)
|
| biography:
| Journalist and historian, born in Ávila, C Spain. He lived in England (1806–8) to study the language and English law. He was joint editor of the Gaceta in Cádiz during the Napoleonic invasion. Imprisoned by the Inquisition on a charge of conspiracy in 1812, he was released in 1813 when the charge was dropped. He went into exile in France in 1823, and returned to honours in 1831; he was Director of the Biblioteca Nacional in Madrid (1843–7). Among his serious verses are ‘Oda a Quintana’ and the ballads ‘La vejez’ and ‘El mar en estío’. His Historia de la civilización española desde la invasión de los árabes hasta la época presente (4 vols, 1840) was once widely consulted in Spain. |
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