1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Aguilera, Ventura Ruiz

AGUILERA, VENTURA RUIZ (1820–1881), Spanish poet, was born in 1820 at Salamanca, where he graduated in medicine. He removed to Madrid in 1844, engaged in journalism and won considerable popularity with a collection of poems entitled Ecos nacionales (1849). His Elegías y Armonías (1863) was no less successful, but his Sátiras (1874) and Estaciones del año (1879) showed that his powers were declining. He wrote under the obvious influence of Lamartine, preaching the gospel of liberalism and Christianity in verses which, though deficient in force, leave the impression of a sincere devotion and a charming personality. He became director of the national archaeological museum at Madrid, where he died on the 1st of July 1881.