Francisco A. de Icaza

The recorded working language is Spanish. The field of work recorded is belletristic literature, poetry and history of literature. Work by Francisco A. de Icaza is recorded in the collections of Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes. Distinctions recorded are Grand cross of the Civil Order of Alfonso XII and Honorary Doctorate from the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

Francisco Asís de Icaza y Beña was born on 2 February 1863 in Mexico City, Mexico, son of Ignacio de Icaza e Iturbe and María Tomasa Beña y García. In his twenties he was posted to the Mexican legation in Madrid, during the embassy of his friend Vicente Riva Palacio; he became ambassador to Germany and to Spain. Known at first for his poetry, Icaza achieved some notoriety with his Examen de críticos (1894). His scholarly analysis Novelas ejemplares de Cervantes (1901), examining Miguel de Cervantes's work in Novelas ejemplares, was acclaimed and gained him membership in the Ateneo de Madrid. He published scholarly works of literary history and was a corresponding member of the Mexican and Spanish Academies. In addition to his works on Cervantes and Lope de Vega, Icaza translated into Spanish various works by Nietzsche, Hebbel, Liliencron and Dehmel. A visit to his homeland was marred by the nationalist polemic that surrounded his critical Diccionario autobiográfico de conquistadores y pobladores de la Nueva España (Madrid, 1923). In Spain, Icaza married the young Beatriz de León y Loynaz (1878–1971), born in La Habana and niece of a Spanish aristocrat. The couple had six children, including novelist Carmen de Icaza.