MORETO Y CAVANA (Cabaña), Agustín. Spanish playwright of Italian descent, born in Madrid on 9 April 1618, died there between 26 and 27 October 1669.
He was court poet to Philip IV, ordained priest in 1654, and chaplain to Cardinal Baltasar de Moscoso of Toledo from 1657. He wrote about 30 plays: on biblical themes (*La cena del rey Baltasar*) or hagiographical subjects (*El más ilustre francés s. Bernardo; Los siete dormientes; La vida de s. Alejo; S. Franco de Sena*); historical plays (*El valente justiciero y rico hombre de Alcalá*); and comedies of manners (*El desdén con el desdén; El lindo don Diego*).
An epigone of Lope and Calderón, yet at times closer to us in modernity of feeling, he brought to the theatre technical skill, a rare sense of measure, graceful comedy tinged with melancholy, moral interest, and assiduous introspection, all conveyed through rapid, spontaneous dialogue that matches the rhythm of his language and verse, which faithfully reflects inner cadence. He has been called “the Spanish Plautus.”