Rosario de Acuña
Rosario de Acuña y Villanueva de la Iglesia, better known by the short name Rosario de Acuña and the masculine pseudonym used for her writings, Remigio Andrés Delafón (18505 May 1923), was a Spanish author of dramas, essays, short stories, and poetry.
Also recorded as Rosario de Acuña y Villanueva
Rosario de Acuña

Paciano Ross · [1] and [2] · Public domain
- Name
- Rosario de Acuña
- Birth Name
- Rosario de Acuña y Villanueva
- Born
- 1851
- Died
- 5 May 1923 1851
- Birthplace
- Madrid, Spain
- Place of death
- Gijón, Spain
- Spouse
- Lieutenant Rafael de Laiglesia (separated)
- Full name
- María del Rosario de Acuña y Villanueva.
- Nationality
- Spain.
- Occupation
- poet, playwright and writer.
- Movements
- freethought.
- Languages
- Spanish.
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Rosario de Acuña y Villanueva de la Iglesia, better known by the short name Rosario de Acuña and the masculine pseudonym used for her writings, Remigio Andrés Delafón (18505 May 1923), was a Spanish author of dramas, essays, short stories, and poetry.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
No house-authored Note is published until its assertions and sources pass the VALÉORINE evidence contract. The documentary article remains available in full while that enrichment is being consolidated.
Documentary enrichment in progress · no unsupported statement published
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Rosario de Acuña. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Evidence Panel
not yet certified
- Identity
- resolved
- Independent source families
- 0
- Admitted assertions
- 0
- Open conflicts
- 0
Authority files
wikidata · Q3941395 · wikipedia · Rosario de Acuña
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Rosario de Acuña • Pen Name — Remigio Andrés Delafón • Birth Name — Rosario de Acuña y Villanueva • Born — 1851 • Died — 5 May 1923 1851 • Birthplace — Madrid, Spain • Place of death — Gijón, Spain • Spouse — Lieutenant Rafael de Laiglesia (separated) • Children — 2 Villanueva
Life
Life
Born in Madrid, she wrote under the masculine pen name of Remigio Andres Delafon. In 1884, she became the first woman speaker in the Ateneo de Madrid. She was considered to be both controversial and a bold freethinker in her time. Her radical thinking and critique on many controversial subjects of religious dogmatism, atheistic approach, illegitimate births, civil marriage (with the eventuality of divorce) created serious controversies. Cited as the "first woman playwright to have a theater closed down", she died at her own home in Gijón, Asturias on 5 May 1923.
Early life
Early life
She was born in Madrid in 1851, in a well-to-do family. Taught by her father, she started writing poetry in castilian early in life. Other than that, not much more is known about her early life. She got married at the age of 25 to Infantry Lieutenant Rafael de La Iglesia and resided in Pinto (Madrid). Some time later they separated and he died in 1900. She did not marry again.
Career
Career
Her first publication was in 1874 in a local journal. In 1876, her first poetry based drama titled "Rienzi el tribuno" premiered at the Teatro Circo de Madrid, which received wide acclaim. In this drama, she presented in poetry form, a tragic theme highlighting the struggles that the Roman tribune Cola di Rienzo had to go through to bring to fore ancient Rome's greatness. In 1877, she published the play called "Amor a la patria" (Love of Country), depicting women's heroism as part of the peasants struggle against Napoleon Bonaparte's rule. In 1884, she was the first woman speaker to read her poetry in the Ateneo de Madrid poetry evening. In 1891, she published "El padre Juan" (The Father John), dealing with the hypocritical nature of the clergy, which caused some controversy. This was followed by the "La voz de la patria" (Pregnant Woman), in 1893, which also resulted in a lot of controversy as the drama highlighted the shenanigans of a pregnant woman trying to stop her fiancé to enlist in the army. She made significant contributions in poetry and some of them are: "Ecos del alma" (Echoes from the Soul) (1876); "Morirse a tiempo" (To Die on Time) (1880); "Sentir y pensar" (Feeling and Thought) (1884). In her approach to propagate the liberal social policy of the government she wrote the paper titled El crimen de la calle de Fuencarral; odia el delito y compadece al delincuente (The Crime of Fuencarral Street: Hate the Crime and Pity the Criminal) around 1880. This was based on a true crime of a murder case; her intent was to raise awareness of the social roots of crime. Her essays related to feminist issues are the "Consecuencias de la degeneración femenina" (Consequences of Female Degeneracy) (1888); and Cosas Mías (My Things) (1917). An advocator of civil marriage, she believed in liberation. After the death of her husband in 1900, she shifted to Cueto (Cantabria) and started a poultry farm. At the same time she also started writing for the socialist weekly, Cantabrian and People's Voice. In 1909, she built her house on the top of a hill in Gijon and named her house as "Providence." As an article she had written in a Paris newspaper was very controversial, she was exiled to Portugal in 1911 for two years. On her return she collaborated with Virginia Gonzalez and Theodomir Menéndez (1919) in the activities of the socialist party. She died at her home in Gijon on May 5, 1923.
Identity and origins
Identity and origins
Rosario de Acuña was recorded at birth as María del Rosario de Acuña y Villanueva. She also worked under the names Remigio Andrés Delafón and Rosario de Acuña. The authorities additionally record the heading Rosario de Acuña y Villanueva. Her recorded language was Spanish.
Identity
Identity
Rosario de Acuña is recorded as poet, playwright and writer.

Intervención de Inés Alberdi en el homenaje en el Ateneo de Madrid a Rosario de Acuña, la primera mujer en ocupar la tribuna del Ateneo en 1884. Acto de entrega de su retrato al ateneo realizado por Carlos Roces realizado por encargo del Ayuntamiento de Gijón tras la iniciativa de la Asociación Feminista Les Comadres y la regidora Paz Fernández Felgueroso. Acto realizado en la biblioteca del Atene
Montserrat Boix
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1850
Rosario de Acuña born at Madrid.
1923
Rosario de Acuña died at Gijón.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Madrid.
Birth place
Gijón.
Death place
Literature
Scholarly footprint
A count of publications is evidence of attention, not of standing, and is given here only as a measure.
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 15 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Books
38,960 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Rosanna DeerchildAuthor
- Rosanna Eleanor LeprohonAuthor
- Rosanna RaymondAuthor
- Rosario CastellanosAuthor
- Rosario FerréAuthor
- Rosario María Gutiérrez EskildsenAuthor
- Rosario MurilloAuthor
- Rosario OrregoAuthor
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Rosario de Acuña?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.