Pedro Calderón de la Barca

Pedro Calderón de la Barca (1600–1681) was a Spanish dramatist and poet, the leading playwright of the later Golden Age. Born in Madrid and educated by the Jesuits and at Salamanca, he wrote for the public theaters and the court of Philip IV, served as a soldier, and in 1651 became a priest, afterward writing mainly religious autos sacramentales and court spectacles. His plays, among them Life Is a Dream, The Mayor of Zalamea, The Physician of His Own Honor and The Great Theater of the World, combine intricate plotting, poetic language and philosophical depth.