1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Mesonero Romanos, Ramón de

MESONERO ROMANOS, RAMÓN DE (1805–1882), Spanish prose-writer, was born at Madrid on the 19th of July 1803, and at an early age became interested in the history and topography of his native city. His Manual de Madrid (1831) was published when literature was at a low ebb in Spain; but the author’s curious researches and direct style charmed the public, and next year, in a review entitled Cartas españolas, under the pseudonym of “El Curioso parlante,” he began a series of articles on the social life of the capital which were subsequently collected and called Panorama matritense (1835–1836). Mesonero Romanos was elected to the Spanish Academy in 1838 and, though he continued to write, had somewhat outlived his fame when he issued his pleasing autobiography, Memorias de un setentón, natural y vecino de Madrid (1880). He died at Madrid on the 30th of April 1882, shortly after the publication of his Obras completas (8 vols., 4to, 1881).