Juan Vélez de Guevara

Who was Juan Vélez de Guevara?

Juan Crisóstomo Vélez de Guevara, son of Luis Vélez de Guevara, was, like his father, a Spanish playwright of the Golden Age.

Like his father Luis, Juan Vélez entered the service of the Duque de Veragua as a lawyer, and from there in 1642 succeeded his father as an Usher of the Royal Chamber. Well known in his day as a composer of short theatrical pieces, notably entremeses and bailes, many of them performed at the Spanish Court, Vélez junior likewise wrote and published full-length plays such as El diciembre por agosto, Nuestra Señora de las Nieves, Endimión y la luna, and the zarzuela Los celos hacen estrella.

He also wrote, in collaboration, Amor vencido de Amor; La verdad en el engaño; the burlesque Los siete infantes de Lara; and La cortesana en la sierra and El hidalgo de La Mancha.