– 2 November 1687), minor Spanish dramatist of the school of Calderón, was the son of a Portuguese mother and a Sicilian merchant of Greek parentage who came to Madrid some time before 1631.
He began writing for the stage in the early 1650s, gained favour at the courts of Philip IV and Charles II, and became a knight of St. John (of Malta) in 1660.
In all, including works of collaboration, he produced around forty-five plays, plus two autos, a number of zarzuelas, and a handful of minor pieces (loas, bailes and entremeses).
According to Valbuena Prat,[5] Diamante is historically interesting as the introducer of French dramatic methods into Spain.
[7] His more successful plays[8] were historical dramas such as El hércules de Ocaña, on the fearless Alonso de Céspedes, el Alcides castellano, and La reina María Estuarda, on the life (and death) of Mary, Queen of Scots.