Rivas, Angel Perez de Saavedra, Third Duke of

Born May 10, 1791, in Córdoba; died June 22, 1865, in Madrid. Spanish poet, playwright, and state figure.

Rivas fought in the first Spanish Revolution (1808–14) and the second Spanish Revolution (1820–23). He lived in emigration from 1824 to 1834. In 1834 he joined the party of the moderados (moderate liberals). In the period 1836–37 he served as minister of the interior, and from 1862 as prime minister. He wrote poetry in the spirit of sentimentalism, revolutionary odes in the classical style, and tragedies, for example, Lanuza (1822). His narrative poem The Foundling Moor (1833) was a romantic interpretation of an ancient folk legend. The drama Don Álvaro, or the Force of Destiny (written 1831, published 1835), on which Verdi based his opera La forza del destino, established romantic drama on the Spanish stage. The collection Historical Romances (1841) extolled the exploits and valor of the Spanish grandees of ages past in the spirit of the ancient Spanish romancero. Rivas also wrote the philosophical symbolic play Disillusionment Is a Dream.