Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Alarcón y Mendoza, Don Juan Ruiz de

ALARCÓN Y MENDOZA, DON JUAN RUIZ DE (ä-lär-kōn ē mān-dō′thä), a noted Spanish dramatist, born at Tasco, Mexico, about 1580 or 1590. He went to Spain in 1600 and became royal attorney in Seville. He was appointed reporter of the royal council of the Indies at Madrid about 1628. The last great dramatist of the old Spanish school, he may be considered also as the creator of the so-called character comedy. His principal works are: “The Weaver of Segovia”; “Suspicious Truth,” the model for Corneille's “Liar”; “Walls Have Ears”; “The Proof of Promises”; “The Anti-Christ.” He died in Madrid, Aug. 4, 1639.