Esteban Manuel de Villegas

Spanish poet

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Esteban Manuel de Villegas (born 1589, Matute, near Nájera, Spain—died Sept. 3, 1669, Matute) was a Spanish lyric poet who achieved great popularity with an early book of poems, Poesías eróticas y amatorias (1617–18). He first studied classics at the University of Madrid, translating works of the 6th-century-bc Greek poet Anacreon at the age of 14, and later obtained a law degree from the University of Salamanca. Intending to devote his life to literature, he...