Manuel Milà i Fontanals (Catalan pronunciation: [mənuˈɛl miˈla]; May 4, 1818 – July 16, 1884) was a Spanish scholar.

[1] In 1845, he became professor of literature at the University of Barcelona, and held this post until his death at Vilafranca del Penedès on the July 16, 1884.

The type of the scholarly recluse, Milà i Fontanals was almost unknown outside the walls of the university until 1859, when he was appointed president of the jocs florals at Barcelona.

[1] On the publication of his treatise, De Los trovadores en España (1866), his merits became more generally recognized, and his monograph, De la poesía heróico-popular castellana (1873) revealed him to foreign scholars as a master of scientific method.

[1] He brought the chivalric romance Curial e Güelfa to scholarly notice in 1876.