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that there was an alternative to fighting to
the death. By 1895 Martínez realized that
the government in M ADRID would no lon-
ger support his gradualist policy, and he
resigned, to be replaced by the implacable
general V ALERIANO W EYLER . Still esteemed
for his intelligence and flexibility, Martínez
continued to enjoy wide popularity in Spain
where he was chosen president of the sen-
ate, a post he held until his death.
the art of maintaining a balanced, stable
government, he sponsored much legisla-
tion that integrated progressive thought
with the salutary benefits of monarchical
tradition. His policies inevitably earned
him the hostility of ultraconservatives and
radical reformers. The latter made a num-
ber of assassination attempts against him
during the Riego period.
In addition to his importance as a politi-
cal figure Martínez was a notable contribu-
tor to Spanish literature. His frequent
periods of self-exile were filled with the
production of plays, poetry, and historical
novels as well as political tracts, didactic
essays, and a major analysis of the form and
structure of poetics. His most important
work was the Conspiración de Venecia (Con-
spiracy of Venice), a play presented in 1834,
which is generally considered to mark the
beginning of Spanish romanticism. His stat-
ure among contemporaries is reflected in
his directorship of the Spanish Royal Acad-
emy and his election to a number of other
learned bodies, including the Academies of
San Fernando, History, and Jurisprudence.
He was also president of the Atheneum of
Madrid and an honorary member of vari-
ous foreign learned societies.
Martínez de la Rosa, Francisco
(1787-1862)
Spanish statesman and writer
Born in G RANADA , Martínez de la Rosa so
distinguished himself as a scholar and
teacher at the university there that he was
appointed as a professor at an early age.
During the attack on Granada launched by
forces of J OSEPH I (Joseph Bonaparte), Mar-
tínez helped organize the defense of the
city. His whole subsequent life was equally
divided between public service and intel-
lectual activity. After the expulsion of the
French he left Spain during the reactionary
rule of F ERDINAND VII, returned to serve in
the revolutionary government of R AFAEL
DEL R IEGO (1820-23), and then traveled
abroad again after its fall. During the First
Carlist War of the 1830s Martínez led the
supporters of I SABELLA II. He withdrew
from Spain once again in the early 1840s in
protest against the dictatorship of B AL -
DOMERO E SPARTERO and then returned to
involve himself in the high politics of the
1850s. During these decades, and almost to
the time of his death, Martínez held a wide
variety of offices, including minister of
state, president of the legislature, and
ambassador to Paris and Rome. A moderate
liberal who tried to instruct his country in
Martínez Ruiz, José (Azorín)
(1873-1967)
Spanish writer
Modern Spain's most notable essayist and
literary critic, Martínez Ruiz was a member
of the G ENERATION OF '98. He himself gave
this name to the group of intellectuals who
strove to create new coherence and mean-
ing for Spanish culture at the beginning of
the 20th century. Like the other writers in
this movement, Martínez Ruiz believed that
 
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