Gutierrez, Antonio Garcia

Antonio Garcia Gutierrez was born in the Spanish province of Cadiz in 1813. He studied medicine in Cadiz but gave it up and went to Madrid hoping to become a poet. His talents were recognized by the better known poets but brought him little acclaim. He recognized that the public greatly enjoyed the romantic dramas by Martinez de la Rosa and Angel de Saavedra, and in a short time he produced El trovador. Thanks to the financial help of the poet Espronceda the drama was produced in 1836 at the prestigious Teatro del Principe and was received enthusiastically by a sold-out audience. He wrote some sixty plays but El trovador was his most successful. He held minor government positions in England, Cuba and Mexico's Yucatan region. He was named a member of the Royal Spanish Academy in 1865 and later served as the director of the Museum of Archeology. He died in Madird in 1884 at age 71.