View source for Biography:Benito Jerónimo Feijóo y Montenegro

{{Infobox person
|name           = Benito Jerónimo Feijóo
|image          = Retrato póstumo del padre Benito Jerónimo Feijoo (Mariano Salvador Maella).jpg
|image_size     = 200px
|caption        = Portrait of Feijóo y Montenegro<br /> by Mariano Salvador Maella
|birth_place    = Santa María de Melias, near Ourense, Galicia, {{wipe|Spain}}
|death_date     = {{Death date and age|1764|9|26|1674|10|8|mf=y}}
|death_place    = Oviedo, Asturias, {{wipe|Spain}}
|occupation     = Monk, scholar, essayist
|spouse         =
|parents        =
|nationality    = {{wipe|Spain}}
}}

Friar '''Benito Jerónimo Feijóo y Montenegro''' ({{IPA-es|beˈnito xeˈɾonimo fejˈxoo}}; 8 October 1676{{snd}}26 September 1764) was a Spanish [[Philosophy:Monk|monk]] and scholar who led the [[Philosophy:Age of Enlightenment|Age of Enlightenment]] in Spain.  He was an energetic popularizer noted for encouraging scientific and empirical thought in an effort to debunk myths and superstitions.

==Biography==
He joined the Benedictine order at the age of 14, and had taken classes in Galicia, León, and Salamanca. He later taught [[Religion:Theology|theology]] and [[Philosophy:Philosophy|philosophy]] at the University, where he earned a professorship in theology.

He was appalled by the superstition and ignorance of his time, and his works aimed at combating the situation.<ref>Stanley G. Payne, ''History of Spain and Portugal'' (1973) 2:367-71</ref> His fame spread quickly throughout Europe. His revelations excited considerable opposition in certain quarters in Spain, for example from Salvador José Mañer and others; but the opposition was futile, and Feijóo's services to the cause of education and knowledge were universally recognized long before his death in Oviedo.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=1|wstitle=Feijóo y Montenegro, Benito Jerónimo|volume=10|pages=237-238}}</ref>

A century later Alberto Lista said that a monument should be erected to Feijóo, at the foot of which all his works should be burned. He was not a great genius, nor a writer of transcendent merit; his name is connected with no important discovery, but his literary style is clear and not without distinction. He tried to uproot many popular errors, awakened an interest in [[Scientific method|scientific method]]s,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://blogs.otago.ac.nz/emxphi/2012/10/feijoo-and-his-magisterio-de-la-experiencia-lessons-of-experience/ |title=Feijoo and his 'Magisterio de la experiencia' (lessons of experience) – Early Modern Experimental Philosophy, University of Otago, New Zealand |publisher=Blogs.otago.ac.nz |date=2012-10-29 |access-date=2013-07-24 |archive-date=2014-02-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140220044941/https://blogs.otago.ac.nz/emxphi/2012/10/feijoo-and-his-magisterio-de-la-experiencia-lessons-of-experience/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> and is justly regarded as the initiator of educational reform in Spain.<ref name="EB1911"/>

==Works==
His two famous works, ''Teatro crítico universal'' (1726–1739) and ''Cartas eruditas y curiosas'' (1742–1760), are multi-volume collections of essays that cover a range of subjects, from natural history and the then known sciences, education, history, religion, literature, philology, philosophy and medicine, down to superstitions, wonders and salient points of contemporary journalistic interest. In the edition of 1777 they occupy nine and five volumes respectively, to which three supplementary volumes must be added. A reprint occurs in volume 56 of the ''Biblioteca de autores españoles'', with an introduction by Vicente de la Fuente. As learning advanced, his writings were relatively relegated to a place of historical and literary interest. The majority of his works were translated into English by Captain John Brett (3 vols., 1777-1780).

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* {{Cite Americana|wstitle=Feijóo y Montenegro, Benito Gerónimo}}
*{{Americana |last=Underhill |first=John Garrett |wstitle=Cartas of Feijóo }}

{{Age of Enlightenment}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Feijoo y Montenegro, Benito Jeronimo}}
[[Category:Age of Enlightenment]]

{{Sourceattribution|Benito Jerónimo Feijóo y Montenegro}}