Antonio de Nebrija

Statue of Antonio de Nebrija, outside of the Biblioteca Nacional de España, in Madrid.

Antonio de Lebrija (Lebrija, Seville 1441 — Alcalá de Henares, 5 July 1522), also known as Antonio de Nebrija, Elio Antonio de Lebrija, Antonius Nebrissensis, and Antonio of Lebrixa, (1441–1522) was a Spanish scholar, known for writing a grammar of the Castilian language, credited as one of the first published grammars of a Romance language. The first grammar of a Romance language ever published was that of the Occitan language in the work "Donatz proensals" by Hugues Faidit (circa 1240).

Name

Nebrija's given name was Antonio Martínez de Calá. In typical humanist fashion, he latinized his name as Aelius Antonius Nebrissensis by taking Aelius from the Roman inscriptions of his native Lebrija, the Roman Nebrissa Veneria. He also signed his books as Antonius Lebrixen (1481) and Antonius Nebrissen (1501).

Life

After studying at Salamanca Nebrija resided for ten years in Italy, and completed his education at Bologna University. On his return to Spain (1473), he devoted himself to the advancement of classical learning among his fellow countrymen. After obtaining the professorship of poetry and grammar at Salamanca, he was transferred to the university of Alcalá de Henares.

Nebrija's services to the cause of classical literature in Spain have been compared with those rendered by Valla, Erasmus and Scidaeus to Italy, the Netherlands and France. In 1492, he published the first grammar of the Spanish language. He dedicated this book to Isabella I of Castile, the catholic queen. When the book was presented to her, she asked: "Why would I want a work like this? I already know the language." He answered: "Majesty, the language is the instrument of the empire."

Nebrija produced a large number of works on a variety of subjects, including a Latin-Spanish dictionary, and commentaries on Sedulius and Persius.

Works

• Introductiones latinae, 1481
• Gramática de la lengua castellana, 1492
• Latin-Spanish (1492) and Spanish-Latin (1495) dictionaries.

Grammatical Ideas

Nebrija's work was mainly based on the previous works by Latin authors like Prisciano, Dimedes or Donato, but introducing new concepts. He considered the grammar to be the highest science. To him, it was divided in Ortography, Prose, Etymology and Syntax. He was the first author to make claims on intellectual property.

References

• Nicolás Antonio, Bibliotheca Hispana Nova, i. 132 (1888)
• Prescott, History of Ferdinand and Isabella, i. 410 (note)
• Thomas McCrie, The Reformation in Spain in the Sixteenth Century (1829).
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

External links

• (Spanish) Etext of Nebrija's Gramática de la lengua castellana.

Persondata
Name	Nebrija, Antonio De
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Date of birth	1441
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Date of death	1522
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