Juan Bautista Diamante

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Juan Bautista Diamante (c. 1625–1687) was a minor Spanish dramatist in the Calderón tradition. He was born to a Portuguese mother and a Sicilian merchant of Greek origin who settled in Madrid before 1631. He began writing for the stage in the early 1650s and soon gained favor at the courts of Philip IV and Charles II. In 1660 he was made a knight of St. John (Malta).

Some scholars have suggested he may have Jewish roots and that the Diamante family hid their Marrano origins by altering public records.

During his life he published about 39 plays. Twenty-four appeared in two parts in 1670 and 1674 under the title Comedias de Fr. Don Iuan Bautista Diamante. The other plays were issued between 1656 and 1672 in Comedias escogidas de los mejores de España. Some works were printed again in the 18th century as loose sheets. He collaborated with many other writers, and through collaboration he produced around 45 plays, plus two autos, several zarzuelas, and other short pieces.

Historically, he is noted for bringing French dramatic methods to Spain, though his originality is debated. Some of his works reuse other authors’ material. For example, La Judía de Toledo is basically Mira de Amescua’s La Desgraciada Raquel under a different title, and El Honrador de su padre (1658) is largely a free translation of Corneille’s Le Cid up to act two.

Diamante’s most successful plays were historical dramas, such as El Hércules de Ocaña about the brave Alonso de Céspedes, El Alcides Castellano, and La Reina María Estuarda about Mary, Queen of Scots.