José Amador de los Ríos

José Amador de los Ríos studied at Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando and Universidad Central. The recorded working language is Spanish. The field of work recorded is history, literature and literary criticism. Places of work recorded in the authority are Madrid. Employment is recorded with Universidad Central. Positions recorded include member of the Cortes during the reign of Isabel II and full professor. Work by José Amador de los Ríos is recorded in the collections of Museo del Prado and Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes.

Amador de los Ríos studied humanities and art in Córdoba and Madrid, graduating from the Universidad Central de Madrid (now Complutense University of Madrid). In 1844, he published Sevilla pintoresca and was appointed secretary of the Comisión Central de Monumentos. With Antonio de Zabaleta, he co-directed the Boletín Español de Arquitectura (1846), the first Spanish journal dedicated exclusively to architecture. In 1848, he was elected an académico de número of the Real Academia de la Historia. He was appointed Chair of Critical History and Spanish Literature at the Universidad Central in 1853, later rising to Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters. In 1868, he was appointed Director of the Museo Arqueológico Nacional and directed the monumental state project Monumentos Arquitectónicos de España.

In 1852, Amador de los Ríos edited and published the complete works of Íñigo López de Mendoza, 1st Marquis of Santillana. During his 1859 induction speech at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando—titled El estilo mudéjar en la arquitectura—he coined and conceptualized the term mudejarismo to define a uniquely Iberian architectural synthesis blending Islamic and Christian traditions. He was also a pioneer in Spanish archaeology, publishing key studies on Visigothic antiquities, notably the Treasure of Guarrazar.

In 1861, he published the first volume of his Historia crítica de la literatura española, the first general history of Spanish literature written within Spain. Though left incomplete at seven volumes, the work embodied his liberal-romantic historiographical vision, conceiving Spain as a unified entity rooted in Castilian and Catholic traditions connected by an idea luminosa ("luminous idea"). Countering foreign scholars who viewed medieval Spain as culturally isolated, Amador de los Ríos defended Spanish literature as a primary successor to classical Latin literature. He included Spanish American literature as an organic extension of the Spanish tradition. Furthermore, in his groundbreaking three-volume work Historia social, política y religiosa de los judíos de España y Portugal (1875–1876), he integrated Sephardic Jewish literature into the national canon, arguing that it "bloomed" on Iberian soil. However, unlike liberal contemporaries such as Adolf de Castro, he did not explicitly condemn the Spanish Inquisition.

José Amador de los Ríos was recorded at birth as Manuel José María Amador de los Ríos y Serrano. The authorities additionally record the heading José Amador de los Ríos y Serrano. His recorded language was Spanish. 2 children are recorded: Rodrigo Amador de los Ríos y Villalta and Ramiro Amador de los Ríos.

José Amador de los Ríos worked in history, literature, literary criticism, painting and archaeology. His work is associated with Romanticism. He was employed by Universidad Central. Recorded positions include member of the Cortes during the reign of Isabel II, full professor, director of the National Archaeological Museum of Spain and member of the Real Academia de la Historia. He worked at Madrid.

José Amador de los Ríos is recorded as having studied at Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando and Universidad Central.