Juan de Espinosa Medrano
Juan de Espinosa Medrano | |
|---|---|
Portrait of Don Juan de Espinosa Medrano | |
| Born | 1630? Cuzco, Viceroyalty of Peru |
| Died | 1688 Cuzco, Viceroyalty of Peru |
| Resting place | Cathedral of Cuzco |
| Other names | Lunarejo, Sublime Doctor, Indian Demosthenes, Tertullian of America, Creole Phoenix |
| Education | Doctor of Theology |
| Alma mater | Seminary of Saint Anthony the Abbot in Cuzco |
| Era | Colonial Spanish America (17th century) |
| Known for | Author of the most famous literary apologetic discourse in Colonial America—his defense of Góngora; master of Baroque style; representative of Indigenous noble lineage in Latin American letters. |
| Notable work | El robo de Proserpina y sueño de Endimión (c. 1650), Amar su propia muerte (c. 1650), El hijo pródigo (c. 1657), Apologético en favor de Luis de Góngora (1662), Philosophia Thomistica (1688), La Novena Maravilla (1695). |
| Style | Baroque |
Juan de Espinosa Medrano (Calcauso, Apurimac, 1630? – Cuzco, 1688), known in history as Lunarejo (or "The Spotty-Faced"), was an Indigenous and noble cleric, and sacred preacher. He was a professor, theologian, archdeacon, playwright, and polymath from the Viceroyalty of Peru. He became a chaplain to the valido of Spain, Luis Méndez de Haro. He is widely regarded as the first great Quechua writer, and recognized as the most prominent figure of the Literary Baroque of Peru and among the most important intellectuals of Colonial Spanish America—alongside New Spain's writers Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz and Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora.
A descendant of the noble House of Medrano through his mother and the House of Espinosa through his father, his portrait prominently displays a coat of arms combining both lineages, symbolizing his dual heritage as a representative of Indigenous nobility and a voice of cultural sovereignty in Spanish America. Juan de Espinosa Medrano is the author of the most famous literary apologetic work of 17th-century Latin America: Apologético en favor de Don Luis de Góngora (1662), dedicated to Luis Méndez de Haro, Count-Duke of Olivares, as his chaplain. The dedication reflects the broader Medrano tradition of courtly and political thought, notably shared by his relative Diego Fernández de Medrano, also a chaplain to the Count-Duke of Olivares.
Juan de Espinosa Medrano also wrote autos sacramentales in Quechua — El robo de Proserpina and Sueño de Endimión (c. 1650), and El hijo pródigo (c. 1657); comedies in Spanish — of which only the biblical play Amar su propia muerte (c. 1650) is preserved; panegyric sermons — compiled after his death in a volume titled La Novena Maravilla (1695); and a course in Latin on Thomistic philosophy — Philosophia Thomistica (1688) published in Rome.
Espinosa Medrano, known by the nickname El Lunarejo, studied in Cusco from a young age and quickly demonstrated exceptional talent in languages and music. He mastered Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and is considered the first major writer in the Quechua language, composing theatrical works, poetry, and even a translation of Virgil into Quechua. He went on to hold university chairs in both Arts and Theology and served as archdeacon of the Cathedral of Cuzco.