Antonio Mira de Amescua

Antonio Mira de Amescua (January 17, 1577 — September 8, 1644),[1] Spanish dramatist, was born at Guadix (Granada) about 1578.

He is mentioned as a prominent dramatist in Rojas Villandrandos Loa (1603), which was written several years before it was published.

In 1610, being then arch-dean of Guadix, he accompanied the count de Lemos to Naples, and on his return to Spain was appointed (1619) chaplain to the Cardinale-Infante Ferdinand of Austria; he is referred to as still alive in Montalbán's Para todos (1632), and he collaborated with Montalbán and Calderón in Polifemo y Circe, printed in 1634.

[2] Mira de Amescua's plays are dispersed in various printed collections, and the absence of a satisfactory edition has prevented, his due recognition.

He has an evenness of execution which indicates an artistic conscience uncommon in Spanish playwrights; he resisted the temptation to write too much, and he unites a virile dignity of expression to impressive conception of character.